Palm Springs, California. a youtube video about this city in a desert that has over 100 golf courses.
At the beginning golf was played on the natural landscape of Scottland. But now the game has changed and so to has the locations. Almost all golf courses seem to want to mimic the same look. There are efforts to cut down on water waste, this mainly comes from turf/grass science and breeding in conjunction with switiching to non potable watering (using grey water instead of drinking water). (Fertilizer is also a major environmental concern)
There is the idea that golf courses--with large open spaces and bodies of water--are excellent habitats for birds. If you look this up online you’ll come across a lot of articles written by USGA about their partnership with Audubon (“audubon international”).
DO NOT BE FOOLED, this isn’t the auduban you are thinking of, read this article by The Audubon Society addressing this issue. Here’s another article about how an “Auduban” certified golf courses actually kill birds.
There is a common arguement I found online made by golfers ‘well it’s better than having a parking lot or shopping mall’. I’m not a fan of an arguement that assumes the worse alternative without considering that those critiquing are proposing something better.