That Justin Timberlake is an avid golf addict has been known for years now. The artist has cultivated a love of green since he was a child, and he has done so quite literally, if we look at his history. Indeed, it has given birth to one of the most eco-friendly golf courses in existence, a veritable temple for lovers of the game and nature.
The story begins when Justin was just a child and just approaching the magical world of golf. As soon as he can, little Justin runs for refuge in the green hills of Big Creek Golf Course, his hometown course. Here he enjoys the peace of the green, learns the value of concentration. Here he learns to love golf.
Little Justin is growing up, moving away from Memphis. All of a sudden, his life is a chaos of TV shows and touring-he no longer has time to run to Big Creek. Does he stop playing golf, then? No, indeed: he signs up at the world’s most prestigious golf clubs, such as Liberty National Golf Course, plays as soon as he has a spare minute. He simply no longer does it in the golf club in which he learned as a child.
One day, a rumor reaches him: the Big Creek is on the verge of bankruptcy and is for sale. They won’t make another golf course on it, above, no: the land will be used for a housing development, or so it seems. Justin could shrug and move on with his life, but he just can’t do it.
His refuge as a broken child? Impossible!
There is only one thing to do in such a situation: enter the negotiations head-on, offer an obscenely high figure, and buy the Big Creek Golf Course.
A happy haven for all golfers
A headshot? Perhaps. Either way, it’s a head-turner that Justin Timberlake immediately puts to good use. Now that he owns the golf course in which he learned to play, he could just give it a makeover and use his name to spin money. Or he can reinvent it and turn it into the field of his dreams.
Needless to say, the artist opts for the second choice. Thanks to the efforts of the best architects in the business-as well as several million dollars of investment-the old Big Creek Golf Course is being transformed into the Mirimichi Golf Course.
“Mirimichi” is a Native American word meaning “place of happy retreat,” and that is what the golf course is: a happy place to find refuge, escaping from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Just as little Justin did when he spent hours on the greens at Big Creek, learning to play golf.
In 2014, Justin Timberlake decided to sell the Mirimichi Golf Course for a ridiculous amount of money, especially relative to the club’s earnings. It is still unclear why. Maybe they don’t care to speculate on it. Perhaps he just wants the golf course to continue to exist and make so many other people happy.
Can a golf course be eco-friendly?
Beyond its history, the great special feature of the Mirimichi Golf Course is its eco-sustainable soul.
Making a golf course without affecting the environment is difficult, almost impossible. You have to change the structure of the land, deforest whole areas by taking away a home from the animals that live there, waste water to water the meadows–in short, you have to perform a whole series of actions that damage the natural habitat of the place.
Mirimichi Golf Course is the first golf course in the world to receive theAudubon Certified International Classic Sanctuary. To obtain this certification one must:
Use renewable energy;
Protect local wildlife;
Saving water and safeguarding its quality.
This is a great achievement for the course but, more importantly, for golf in general. This recognition proves that there can be golf courses that are truly green, that become a sanctuary for humans and the environment.
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