Environmentally Sensitive Golf Course Design

Twelve wooden pole bridges skirt and span protected wetlands at Queenstown Harbor Golf Links, bringing golfers into contact with nature without disturbing it.

"...they have done some things that show their concern for thee environment...I think this golf course (Queenstown Harbor Golf Links, Queenstown, MD) can be used as a model to show how things should be done."

Ned Gerber
Project Manager
Chesapeake Wildlife Heritage

Environmentally Sensitive Golf Course Designs

Lindsay Bruce Ervin, Inc. has extensive experience working with environmentally sensitive sites, and as a result, for all of their projects their design philosophy is to work with the environmentally sensitive areas and not against them. An example of their environmental golf course design success was noted in "Working With Nature for Better Golf Developments" in the March 1993 issue of Urban Land Magazine where the Queenstown Harbor Golf Links was featured as an example of having a successful environmentally friendly golf course design. This 36-hole golf course was formed on 750 acres of land of which 147 acres were wetlands that formed a part of the fragile ecosystem of the Chesapeake Bay. Lindsay Bruce Ervin, Inc.’s design incorporated these areas into the course architecture in order to protect the wetlands and the unique wildlife habitat. This golf course not only resembles a natural park but it also has been ranked as a top public golf course in Maryland. The following is an excerpt from the Urban Land article:

Says Ned Gerber, project manager for Chesapeake Wildlife Heritage, an organization that works for wildlife habitat preservation and restoration and one of the golf course’s opponents in the public hearings, “It takes a long time before you can say whether it’s a positive or a negative, but they (Lindsay Bruce Ervin, Inc.) have done some things…that show they’re concerned about the environment… I think this golf course can be used as a model to show how things can be done.” For all concerned, Queenstown Harbor’s sensitive design and management have resolved the seemingly insoluble dilemma of environment versus development.

Through Lindsay Bruce Ervin, Inc.’s sensitive golf course design and management in the Queenstown Harbor Golf Links project, they have created an award-winning golf course, preserved a critical wetland area and resolved the dilemma of environment versus development.