Golf is a major global industry. It is played by more than 60 million people worldwide, and there are more than 32,000 courses across the globe in 140 countries. This book looks at the power relationships in and around golf, examining whether the industry has demonstrated sufficient leadership on environmental matters for the government to be able to trust them to make decisions with implications for public health. It is the first comprehensive study of the varying impacts of golf on the environment, and is based on extensive empirical research, including interviews with major stakeholders in the golf industry and members of protest groups. The authors examine golf as a sport and as a global industry, drawing on three discrete literatures - the study of sport as a global social movement, environmental sociology and the study of corporate environmentalism.

I. Introduction and tools for seeing golf sociologically -- 1. Introduction: approaching golf and environmental issues -- 2. Light green to dark green: how to make sense of responses to environmental problems -- II. Background and history -- 3. Waging a war on pests: golf comes to America -- 4. Golf in consumer culture and the making of Augusta National syndrome -- III. The light-greening of golf -- 5. The turn to responsible golf and the roots of golf's light-green movement -- 6. Environmentalism incorporated: professionalization and post-politics in the time of responsible golf -- 7. Light -- green regulation? Environmental managerialism and golf's conspicuous exemption -- IV. The dark-greening of golf -- 8. Anti-golfers across the world unite! Global and local forms of resistance to golf-course development -- 9. Organic golf 'on the fringe': the potential and challenges of a chemical-free golf alternative -- V. Conclusion -- 10. Reflections, recommendations, and minor utopian visions for a game we love -- References -- Index.

English.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 217-236) and index.

Open Access EbpS