Over the lifespan of its newly installed solar system, gas and electric savings at Tracy (Calif.) G&CC are expected to reach $1.8 million, while Northport Creek GC in Northport, Mich. was the first course in the country designed and built to be 100 percent solar-powered. “When bottom lines are tightening and every dollar counts, solar-panel technology can be a ray of light for a club manager,” one industry observer notes.

Golf courses around the world are offsetting the major expense of electricity by installing solar panels, CleanTechnica.com reported. And there’s also a sense that these stewards are being forward-thinking and respectful with eco-friendly practices. It’s a win-win situation for economics, public relations and the environment.

C+RB reported on recent solar projects at City Park Golf Course in Denver, Colo., Napa Valley Country Club and Elkhorn Ridge Golf Club in Spearfish, S.D. In 2019, C+RB reported that commissioners of the DuPage County (Ill.) Forest Preserve rejected an idea to install solar panels on a proposed clubhouse at The Preserve at Oak Meadows.

With declining participation across the golf industry, clubs need to be creative in order to stay in business. Solar energy can be a good outside-the-box solution for struggling golf clubs, CollectiveSun, an organization that specializes in helping nonprofits and tax-exempt organizations fund solar projects, reported. A contributor for the Club Management Association of America blog noted, “In today’s economy, where every penny of a golf club manager’s budget is scrutinized … when bottom lines are tightening and every dollar counts, solar panel technology can be a ray of light for a club manager.”

Solar contractors and their sales and marketing teams should consider focusing on the golf industry, given how much it can benefit from what solar has to offer, CollectiveSun reported. There are a number of reasons why golf clubs around the country are going solar, something contractors can keep in mind when targeting them.

The clearest way to attract golf courses is to appeal to their desire to lower high operating costs, CollectiveSun reported. A primary concern of most clubs is to keep the course looking good. Carl Ford, president of the Venice (Fla.) East Golf Club Association, states that “a golf course should be two things: be playable but it should also be eye candy to an avid golfer.”

This means regular watering, a significant expense for the average 18-hole course, CollectiveSun reported. Therefore, a club often goes solar to lower the electrical costs associated with irrigating their course.

In 2019, commercial electricity costs in the United States ranged between 8-20 cents per kilowatt-hour, CollectiveSun reported. Tracy (Calif.) Golf and Country Club had a gas and electric bill that averaged more than $100,000 annually before it went solar. Over the lifespan of the newly installed solar system, savings are expected to reach $1.8 million. Club managers will be impressed that solar would allow them to maintain their courses’ upkeep at significantly reduced cost.

Like most commercial entities, golf courses have to contend with the unpredictable nature of utility pricing, CollectiveSun reported. Hidden Creek Golf Club in Egg Harbor Township, N.J. had an annual energy consumption cost that reached $130,000 for 630,000 kilowatt-hours and their local utility company was able to increase these charges without notice. Given that solar prices stay the same, the club’s new solar system now functions as their hedge against future electricity price escalation.

When Xanterra Parks and Resort’s Furnace Creek Inn and Ranch Resort, a golf course in California’s parched region of Death Valley, went solar, one-third of their power source was then “disconnected from an energy market that’s prone to spikes.” They are now able to accurately predict their significantly lowered electrical costs, CollectiveSun reported, something contractors can point to when looking to attract golf club prospects.

Another solar selling point for golf clubs is going solar can help fulfill their mission to be sustainable and influence public perception, CollectiveSun reported. The management of Furnace Creek Golf Course felt that solar technology was in line with a desire to operate a resort in harmony with a number of conservationist practices.

“Environmental sustainability is important to everything we do here in Death Valley,” said Joel Southall, the club’s Director of Environmental Health and Safety. The club’s parent company exists in and around national and state parks and going solar has helped adjust government officials’ perception of golf “as an elitist activity that’s environmentally unfriendly.”

The Island in Plaquemine, La. installed a 60-panel solar system that accounts for 25 to 30 percent of its electricity needed to run pumps, heat and cool the clubhouse, and charge carts, CollectiveSun reported. Glen Clouatre, General Manager and Director of Golf says that when they add an additional 32 kilowatts worth of panels in the near future, “this time we’re going to put the panels in a place where they’re visible, so that everyone will know we’re using solar.”

Whether or not a prospect seeks to make their system visible on the course, emphasizing the benefits of being a green business can go a long way towards enticing a golf club to go solar, CollectiveSun reported.

A golf course with nonprofit status has access to special financing benefits, something that can be a particularly attractive selling point when discussing the feasibility of solar for a prospect, CollectiveSun reported. For example, working with CollectiveSun means that a club can apply tax credits that reduce the cost of a solar contractor’s bid. A golf club seeking to go solar affordably can choose to do so using a number of CollectiveSun’s options: donations, reserves, bank loans, Program Related Investment Loans (PRIs), Property Assessed Clean Energy loans (that are repaid as an assessment on a nonprofit’s property tax bill), and CollectiveSun’s CrowdLending platform, a direct loan between a nonprofit and its supporters.

Working with CollectiveSun also means tapping into their expertise around shepherding a system installation from start to finish, including assisting with solar project management, CollectiveSun reported. The financing options and support available to nonprofits, coupled with factors like a significant drop in solar cell prices, have made going solar much more attractive for golf clubs.

There are a number of reasons golf clubs would consider solar when looking for ways to stay afloat.

“It makes me feel good knowing that we are helping the environment and cutting back on our expenses,” says Lila Purcell, General Manager of the Venice East Golf Club in Venice, Fla.

Keeping greens healthy requires expensive regular watering, but the Venice East’s former electric bill of $400 a month is a thing of the past, now that they’ve installed solar panels to run the pump that uses reclaimed water for its irrigation system, CleanTechnica.com reported. The golf course will recoup the $22,000 installation cost in five years. The solar panels can withstand winds of up to 160 mph and hail as big as an inch. The course also plans to switch to the sun to power its golf carts over the next few years.

And there are some who take an even bigger leap outside the box when looking for solutions, CollectiveSun reported. Northport Creek Golf Course in Northport, Mich. was the first course in the country designed and built to be 100 percent solar-powered—installing 16 12-panel units that annually produce 64,000 kilowatt-hours, enough electricity to power seven average-sized homes.

C+RB reported on the project at the time.

Phase II saw the installation of two arrays of 48 solar panels with computer tracking that moves with the sun, recalibrating every five minutes, CleanTechnica.com reported. Designed to handle the electrical needs of the clubhouse and the electric golf carts, Phase II generates another 21,000 kilowatt-hours.

While Northport Creek is not a typical scenario, it is the kind of thinking that may help some clubs in America flourish in a difficult time, CollectiveSun reported. A knowledgeable solar contractor and their sales and marketing team can help a golf course recognize solar as their key to financial and environmental sustainability.