Tee Change: Restoring Golf Courses for Climate Resilience

In the snug, emerald valley of San Geronimo, California, three words mark a paved trail in thick white chalk: “You’ve got this!” Written by the coach of a local high school cross-country team, the message was meant to encourage runners during a recent race. But it’s indicative of much more. It reflects the positive attitude and proactive manner of a community that’s working together to meet the challenges of climate change.

The 157-acre site where these words appear, once an 18-hole golf course, has been undergoing a transformation since 2018, when Trust for Public Land bought it and began working with residents to best realize its next iteration as a community asset. Soon after, irrigation stopped, and a grand and complex effort to restore the landscape began. And in the months and years to follow, people started visiting the site for a wide variety of uses.

San Geronimo Commons, as this public space is now known, is one of three former privately owned golf courses TPL is helping reimagine along the California coast—an area plagued in recent years by extreme heat and devastating weather events such as floods and wildfires. Marin County Fire Chief Jason Weber puts it bluntly, “It seems like a year-round business of disasters,” he says. “It has certainly changed in the last 10 years. You can’t say ‘the new norm’ anymore. It’s really just the normal.”

That reality is why communities are partnering with TPL to make the most of their landscapes—and gaining a host of benefits for wildlife and people in the process.

Coach Mary Churchill (above, in blue) and runners from the nearby San Domenico School regularly train on site. Photo: Angela DeCenzo

It Takes a Village

Mary Churchill, the aforementioned cross-country coach, says training at San Geronimo Commons (SGC) has provided her team with an enhanced appreciation for nature and a connection to their community. “Students see an area being used by the public, their neighbors, their classmates, and shared with animals,” she explains. “They are also aware that we work in collaboration with the fire department to use the area.”

She’s referring to Chief Weber and his staff, who have turned the former golf course clubhouse into the Marin County Fire Department’s administrative headquarters. Weber, a strong advocate for the restoration project, says the new natural area is in alignment with Marin’s vision, noting that more than 50 percent of land in the county is preserved for open space.

He sees an added bonus, since the fire department will be more centrally positioned than in their previous headquarters, greatly improving response times, which is more important than ever for this region. “The community saw pretty early on the value of the property for public use and public safety,” Weber observes. He’s glad the fire station is at a local nexus too: “The community gathers here pretty regularly,” he says, citing a weekly food pantry, track meets, cycling events, even a recent car show. “Everyone’s finding so many uses for the property as a commons, and it’s good for us to interact.”

Churchill, who teaches biology in addition to coaching, says SGC “has everything: hills, trails, vistas, and great parking,” adding that it’s not only beautiful but also feels safe. Her student athletes agree. George Kunze, a graduating senior, describes the site as “a pleasant, secluded area to train and race in where I’ve made a lot of valuable memories.”

Of course, not everyone was on board. Alexa Davidson, a lifelong resident of the area and executive director of the nearby San Geronimo Valley Community Center, says there was a sense of real loss for people who had used the space as a golf course. Homeowners who’d grown accustomed to having a manicured golf course outside their doors are also adjusting. Davidson and other local leaders embraced the community engagement process and saw the site’s evolution as a time to do a lot of listening. They focused on being good neighbors, asking, “How can we support each other?” And as residents enjoy more regular access to the land for walking and recreation— and the broader community sees new possibilities at the property—attitudes are shifting.

Erica Williams, a senior project manager at TPL, says community engagement efforts and transparency about the process, including a monthly newsletter, helped assuage some concerns. The pandemic also played a role: “It represented a paradigm shift,” she says, “with property users reaching out to express their gratitude for the land and deep appreciation for its natural beauty, easy access, and trails.” Many neighbors have since come forth as land stewards, offering to help however they can: “They really are very in touch with the land and care about it,” says Williams. “We’re not philosophically opposed to golf,” she adds. “There was just an incredible restoration opportunity that also had a lot of community benefits.”

The acquisition also connected San Geronimo Commons to four adjacent green spaces: Roy’s Redwoods, Gary Giacomini Open Space Preserve, Maurice Thorner Memorial Preserve, and French Ranch Preserve. That connectivity not only expands recreational opportunities for the public; it also improves wildlife habitat, enhancing the region’s biodiversity and climate resilience at once.

A return to native plants is part of that resilience. Restoring the region’s natural grasslands will help mitigate climate change, as their deep root systems hold carbon, reducing the amount of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere. And reconnecting waterways to the floodplain will create a moister landscape that is resilient to fire. “That’s where the restoration piece is really important as a climate benefit,” says Williams. Chief Weber agrees: “We’ve been able to prove that this space can be used for public access, along with fire protection.”

Every Drop Counts

In Marin County hotel bathrooms, prominent signs recommend keeping shower durations to five minutes or less in the name of water conservation. A rest area near Salinas displays a similar “every drop counts” message on a placard near the vending machines. Clearly, this is a state with water issues—and a population concerned about usage.

“Certainly, from the standpoint of water conservation, that’s a very glaring example of how this work is beneficial,” says Williams. Removing fertilizer and pesticide from stormwater runoff is another collateral benefit of transitioning golf courses to natural landscapes. In addition to being better for residents, cleaner water is hugely important to fish populations.

Anna Halligan of Trout Unlimited (TU), a national nonprofit and important TPL partner on the SGC project, explains how the watershed restoration will benefit both endangered coho salmon and threatened steelhead trout: “One thing that we know is really beneficial for fish is reconnecting the stream channel with floodplains,” she says, which is what TU is helping achieve in the San Geronimo Valley. For other wildlife, too, such as birds, insects, amphibians, and mammals, “there’s this really great opportunity to create seasonal wetlands.”

The golf course had previously covered—literally, with dirt—much of Larsen Creek and directed its water into a holding pond, which was then used for irrigation. Now, TPL and Trout Unlimited are redesigning the landscape to hold water for as long as possible, which will protect the community from natural disasters.

A restored, naturally functioning floodplain means a more saturated water table, increased fire resilience, and better flood protection. “We want to have that buffer for those big weather events,” says Halligan, noting that natural streams allow fish refuge from strong storm flows, “so it’s not all just rushing downstream.”

Another aspect of the project will specifically benefit coho salmon. “There’s a limit to how far they can get upstream right now,” says Halligan, TU’s north coast coho project director.

San Geronimo Creek, one of the waterways that runs through the property, provides roughly 40 percent of the available coho spawning habitat in the entire Lagunitas Creek watershed, and TU is working with TPL to restore this creek, maximizing the Bay Area’s largest remaining coho salmon run.

“These large sites provide amazing opportunities for each community to address climate risks.”

– TPL Climate Director Brendan Shane

California has committed to the goal of conserving 30 percent of its lands and coastal waters by 2030, known as the 30×30 initiative. The transformation at San Geronimo Commons “checks that box right out of the gate” Halligan notes—as do TPL’s other golf course restoration projects in the Golden State, all of which support climate resilience.

As TPL Climate Director Brendan Shane puts it, “While each location is unique, these large sites provide amazing opportunities for each community to address climate risks. The same restored natural landscapes that improve habitat, biodiversity, and water quality can buffer against coastal storms, manage extreme precipitation, and recharge groundwater supplies. These restored public landscapes also capture and store carbon in their forests, wetlands, and soils—helping address the root cause of climate change.”

Off to the Races

About 150 miles down the coast, Tim Frahm, also with Trout Unlimited, leans over a bridge and joyfully points out a juvenile steelhead trout in the Carmel River.

Here, the Monterey Peninsula Regional Park District (MPRPD), Trust for Public Land, and TU are partnering with the California State Coastal Conservancy and others on an ambitious riparian (riverside) restoration that will improve 40 acres of habitat along 1 mile of the river.

Formerly Rancho Cañada, a 36-hole golf course, the land was purchased by TPL and granted to MPRPD, who—like the Marin County Fire Department—moved their headquarters to the clubhouse, even converting the prior pro shop into a Discovery Center focused on environmental and cultural education. The golf course property adds a 185-acre parcel to Palo Corona Regional Park, a significant open space on California’s central coast. And the transition will heal the landscape from prior damage, help prevent flooding, and provide new opportunities for recreation.

Christy Fischer, TPL’s conservation director for coastal Northern California, describes the project as “stunningly successful”: stunning because it very easily could not have happened. Previously the executive director at the Santa Lucia Conservancy, Fischer and MPRPD General Manager Dr. Rafael Payan each heard about the possibility of the golf course purchase on the same day—and both reached out to contacts at Trust for Public Land, knowing we’d have the expertise to help.

Facing competition from developers for both the land and the water, the groups needed to move quickly. They had a mere two and a half weeks to get under contract on the property—including a $100,000 deposit. That was before the challenge of raising an almost $11 million purchase price in 12 months. It seemed impossible, but TPL marshaled the resources necessary to quickly close the deal. And “off to the races we went,” says Payan.

Rethinking the resource of the Carmel River—which had previously provided irrigation to the golf course—was key, says Fischer. Frahm, who serves as TU’s central coast steelhead project manager (and happens to be Fischer’s husband), realized there was an opportunity to dedicate the irrigation water back to the river, enhancing its natural flow to the benefit of fish and other wildlife. A healthier, more natural Carmel River also means better resilience to the effects of climate change and cleaner drinking water for surrounding communities.

Dr. Rafael Payan and the Monterey Peninsula Regional Park District are partnering with TPL and Trout Unlimited to maximize water quality, steelhead trout habitat, and flood safety of the Carmel River. Photo: Monterey County Weekly/Nic Coury

A Climate Mitigation Swiss Army Knife

Much like the quest for funding, the proposed floodplain restoration at the former Rancho Cañada site requires plenty of creativity—not to mention flexibility.

“This is going to be a process-based restoration, where we create the footprint; we provide revegetation; but then the river is going to start carving her own locations,” says Frahm. Designs of this type used to attempt to keep rivers structurally in the same place, he explains. “Happily, we’ve evolved away from that.”

Frahm consistently refers to the river as “she” and “her”—an affectionate habit that reveals his close relationship with the landscape. Jake Smith, MPRPD’s planning and conservation program manager, describes the site with a similar rapture. When recommending the hike to Inspiration Point—which provides a bird’s-eye view of Carmel Bay—he advises planning in plenty of time for “blissing out” at the top.

And he’s similarly excited about discussing the forthcoming restoration, which is where the creativity comes in. The restoration team had to come up with new ways to allow the river to meander since they weren’t starting with a blank slate, given considerations such as nearby homes, existing roads, and the park next door.

A view of the Carmel River at Palo Corona Regional Park. Photo: Christy Fischer

They also had to remedy issues caused by the landscape’s former use as a golf course. That includes cutting away earth to lower the floodplain, dropping it as much as 15 feet in places. Bringing the landscape down to the water table will create an accessible, drought-resistant water source for wildlife and provide greater capacity during storms—including an increased ability to capture and retain sediment—which is important to climate resilience.

Smith adds that a “nice wide, wet, intact riparian corridor also has the potential to buffer a lot of the negative effects of fire.” In other words, a healthy river and functioning floodplain mean better protection from wildfires. If a fire starts on one side of the Carmel River, for instance, a saturated landscape could help keep it from spreading to the other side.

The restored Rancho Cañada property will, in effect, act as “a kind of Swiss Army Knife to really mitigate a lot of climate change impacts and increase our capacity to adapt or respond to those events,” says Smith. This is great news for local communities, as flooding and wildfires are both top of mind for residents in California.

Much of the removed earth will be mounded in a manner that’s “sympathetic with the landscape,” according to Frahm, meaning the restoration aims to re-create a natural topography. The project team is also carefully considering the needs of wildlife, removing invasive species and adding native vegetation for a healthier ecosystem with improved refuge and new food sources.

Like San Geronimo Commons, Rancho Cañada fills a missing piece in a checkerboard of conserved land, in this case between Los Padres National Forest along the Big Sur coast north to Fort Ord National Monument near Monterey. Smith sees such connectivity as providing wildlife with a “pressure-release valve,” allowing species access to more habitat if theirs is adversely impacted by an event like wildfire. He mentions black bears as one animal that has endured challenging circumstances by taking advantage of such openings.

Parks for All People

Humans take advantage of new routes into nature, as well. Already, visitors can be seen walking dogs at the former Rancho Cañada site, pushing strollers along former golf cart paths, and generally enjoying the property—even though it’s just getting started. Some parts are open now but will close during upcoming phases of construction, while other areas that are currently closed will open. “We’re designing it to maintain access,” says Smith, noting that its final design will strive to serve all ages and mobilities.

Payan is likewise concerned with equity and accessibility. “One of our driving motivators, like TPL, is to reach and provide services to underserved, underrepresented, and under-resourced communities,” he says. He hopes the park will become a beloved natural area to all in the region, from the Salinas Valley’s agricultural workforce and their families to elderly residents from nearby retirement communities to members of local Indigenous groups.

“One of our driving motivators, like TPL, is to reach and provide services to underserved, underrepresented, and under-resourced communities.”

– Monterey Peninsula Regional Park District General Manager Dr. Rafael Payan

Payan, who is of San Carlos Apache and Mexican descent, is also interested in preserving local cultures and educating users of the park through interpretive signage and educational programming. He says the community overall has been very supportive, and keeping residents informed of the project’s progress and benefits is one of his primary goals.

“It’s easy to see what resonates with people when you start ticking off all the things that this multibenefit project does,” adds Frahm. “Reducing flood risk for the retirement community living upstream? That’s a big deal. Protecting a domestic water source? That’s a big deal. Creating a favorable, stable environment for threatened steelhead trout and other wildlife? That’s a big deal.” And while partners like the MPRPD, Trout Unlimited, and the California State Coastal Conservancy are invaluable to seeing it through, all agree this is truly an “if not for TPL” project.

Birds of a Feather

It takes all of two minutes on a trail with Dr. Lisa Stratton, director of ecosystem management at the University of California Santa Barbara’s Cheadle Center for Biodiversity and Ecological Restoration, to see the strength of community at North Campus Open Space (NCOS). This is where TPL secured 64 acres of a former golf course for a wetland restoration that is benefiting residents—including students of all ages—and endangered shorebirds.

Stratton, who showed up on a bicycle and with a backpack full of aerial site images, sees a familiar face and shouts, “Hi, Jim!” at a birder passing by. “Hi, Greg!” and “Hey, Jeremiah!” are soon to follow, and each interaction focuses on birds, from American bitterns and black-crested night herons to killdeer, sandpipers, and pipits.

Jim, who’s carrying a large scope, is on his way to (hopefully) view a horned lark, causing Stratton to exclaim, “Oh! I gotta see that. That’s a new bird for us. Cool.” Jeremiah, encountered a bit later, explains that the lark is a juvenile so not as recognizable, or so he’s heard on the birding grapevine.

Stratton is overseeing the restoration at North Campus Open Space—which ceased being Ocean Meadows Golf Course in 2013, broke ground in 2017, and fully opened to the public in 2022—and is the property’s biggest ambassador, according to Alex Size, TPL conservation director for Southern California. Indeed, it’s not uncommon to hear her described as a force of nature—or, rather, a force for it. As Mark Holmgren, former curator of the Cheadle Center’s vertebrate collections, puts it, “Lisa is a unique person, able to blast ahead and ignore obstacles that hold normal humans back.”

Though retired from UCSB, Holmgren has continued working closely with Stratton as a member of the local Audubon chapter’s science  and conservation committee. “We take on issues locally that are meaningful to birds,” he says, which has led to many discussions about how to best restore the NCOS site, located on Devereux Slough, to provide for shorebirds at risk of losing habitat due to climate change.

Decisions about the restoration at NCOS, led by Dr. Lisa Stratton, are made to optimize habitat for a variety of wildlife, such as western snowy plovers. Photo: courtesy of Sage Hill Films

Western snowy plovers are one example; Belding’s Savannah sparrow is another. The former breed on sandy shores, using beach material to build nests. The latter is a wetland-dependent species that resides in Southern California’s coastal salt marshes year-round.

Holmgren began conducting bird surveys at the property in 2011, when it was still a golf course—and while, in fact, he was simultaneously golfing. “We were having so much fun watching birds that we gradually weened ourselves off the golf,” he says with a chuckle. Data shows that the restoration has, without a doubt, improved bird diversity. “We have more variation in habitats,” he observes. “Now we have freshwater riparian, salt marsh, grassland, coastal sage scrub, and vernal pool habitats”—all of which also serve other wildlife.

Beaming from under a bucket hat, he reports that the beach at Devereux Slough has the largest population in the county of breeding western snowy plovers; more than 60 nests have been recorded annually. Belding’s Savannah sparrows have also been documented breeding on-site.

“Another thing we’re really proud of,” says Stratton, “is that we have two populations of federally endangered plants here”: Ventura marsh milkvetch and salt marsh bird’s beak. It’s not just about putting native plants in the ground, she says. It’s about asking, “How can we create these unique ecological niches for different organisms?”

And, as with the other former golf courses, NCOS connects with adjacent natural areas—such as Ellwood Mesa, a 137-acre overwintering site for monarch butterflies that TPL and partners protected in 2005—linking more than 600 acres of land. “The connections are as important as the open spaces themselves,” comments Holmgren. “Because if one area is hit by fire or disease or some other kind of calamity, wildlife needs those corridors to quickly recolonize.”

The Proof Is in the Policies

In 1965, developers added an estimated 500,000 cubic yards of soil to Devereux Slough to create the nine-hole course, essentially covering up a natural estuary. Once TPL bought the land and conveyed it to UCSB, removing and rethinking some of that fill was an early step in planning North Campus Open Space.

Stratton says they excavated 350,000 cubic yards of earth, likening the effort to a ballet of machine operators. Nearby resident—many of whom are university faculty—were mostly very supportive of the changes, she says. In recent years, new arrivals have even told her they moved here because of the project. “But,” she continues, “the public had to psychologically conceive of the change. Guiding that change and communicating [about it] was more of a nuanced challenge.”

Dr. Lisa Stratton outside the University of California Santa Barbara’s Cheadle Center for Biodiversity and Ecological Restoration. Photo: courtesy of Sage Hill Films

Both Holmgren and Stratton credit the project’s genesis, in part, to Duncan Mellichamp, an emeritus professor of chemical engineering at UCSB and a onetime member of TPL’s California Advisory Board. “He realized this is part of what institutions can do: preserve open space and manage it,” says Holmgren. “It has created a fabulous perception in the community.”

“Thanks to you guys and other groups,” adds Stratton, “there was bond money available.” By “you guys,” she means TPL—specifically our expertise and leadership in supporting environmental ballot measures, which can result in important funding for projects like hers. Rachel Couch, a project development specialist with the California State Coastal Conservancy who worked on both Rancho Cañada and North Campus Open Space, describes it this way: “Everyone wanted to be a part of such a cool idea to undo the damage that the golf course had done to this coastal watershed.”

“All these people don’t have to buy flood insurance anymore.”

– Dr. Lisa Stratton, director of ecosystem management at the University of California Santa Barbara’s Cheadle Center for Biodiversity and Ecological Restoration

Stratton identifies several climate benefits tied to the restoration, which is ongoing, but points to one very convincing piece of evidence: “All these people don’t have to buy flood insurance anymore,” she says, gesturing to a line of houses adjacent to NCOS. “We dropped flood elevations by a foot and a half, which took all these people out of the danger zone.”

While protecting nearby communities, they also designed the wetland so it can become tidal for longer during rain events, knowing that as sea levels rise, such topographical changes will protect the salt marsh habitat. Much like the floodplain restoration at Rancho Cañada, it does this by lowering water levels. “Instead of being bermed behind a sandbar,” says Stratton, “it becomes tidal, which drops the wate  level by about 5 feet.” Couch puts it more simply: “It basically just provides more room for the water to go.”

North Campus Open Space now has much-improved water capacity. Photo: Bill Dewey

Guillermo Rodriguez, TPL’s California state director, says these projects “bring critical green infrastructure to landscapes and communities that need it, with benefits ranging from increased public access and flood control to reviving critical habitats.” He notes that TPL is also providing technical assistance to a local land trust in Palm Springs, where three contiguous former golf courses will be developed into a nature preserve.

Al Fresco Education

All of this intentional, thoughtful design is why Stratton uses the term “rewilding” with caution, noting it can give the impression of letting something go, with little to no management. “We’re making conscious decisions,” she says, which is true of each of these former golf course sites.

TPL’s Christy Fischer makes a similar point, noting that “golf courses left to their own devices go to hell in a handbasket really quickly,” typically with invasive species running rampant. In essence, deliberate effort, planning, and cooperation are needed to best serve wildlife and people.

Plus, we can’t truly go back to a pristine, “wild” state. From agriculture and ranching to golf courses and development, people have been affecting these landscapes for centuries. What we can do is learn from the past and strive for healthy, functioning ecosystems moving forward. In Holmgren’s words, “History informs restoration, but it doesn’t necessarily dictate restoration.”

The educational aspect is key. Exposure to restored landscapes teaches such ecological lessons, and there are plenty of students who will benefit, from children at Lagunitas Elementary School and West Marin Montessori Preschool near San Geronimo Commons to attendees at environmental education programs led by the Santa Lucia Conservancy at Rancho Cañada—and certainly by college students at UC Santa Barbara. “Doing this through the university has been special beyond what we ever anticipated,” Holmgren remarks.

“Doing this through the university has been special beyond what we ever anticipated.”

– Mark Holmgren, former curator of the Cheadle Center’s vertebrate collections

Stratton agrees: “Being on campus is our biggest asset. We are a place with 5,000 new students every year. They’re out here collecting data; they’re getting that field experience.” It’s become a living laboratory that’s engaging students who are otherwise often divorced from the land around them. “There are about 30 classes that use the space in some way,” says Stratton—“not just ecology and biology, but also writing courses, anthropology, field trips.”

The site also serves as a route for Isla Vista Elementary School students, who bike through NCOS on their way to school each morning. And there are two nearby preschools that use the site for outdoor education, even helping plant native species and watching them grow.

UC Santa Barbara is also working with members of the local Chumash community to raise awareness about Indigenous land management, such as controlled fire. “Cultural burning was a really important practice here,” says Stratton, who conducted a burn in partnership with the Chumash in fall 2023. “We want to bring back their practices and help highlight how sustainable they are while educating people and engaging the community in their value and importance.”

When asked about her favorite use of the site, Stratton pauses, then says, “I think birding is really cool because there are new discoveries all the time, but I’m really proud that it’s used for all this different education.”

And she’s particularly moved by the experience of her own students. “They go into this environmental studies program, and all they hear about is disaster,” she says. But many have told her that working on the NCOS restoration made them feel something unfamiliar: hope. “This made them feel like they made a difference.”

It’s a feeling that recalls those three encouraging words written by the cross-country coach: You’ve got this. When it comes to fighting climate change, we do have this—we can, that is, if we work together to conserve land with resilience in mind.

Amy McCullough is senior writer and editor for Trust for Public Land and managing editor of Land&People magazine. She is also the author of The Box Wine Sailors, an adventure memoir.