Typically, the windswept fairways at North Hampton’s Sagamore Hampton Golf Club are more a source of competitive frustration than admiration. Nestled high above the surrounding terrain and within earshot of 1-95, a round at the 18-hole course can, on a particularly gusty day, feel like New Hampshire’s version of the British Open.
Now, thanks to a green ambition over two years in the making, the near 50 year old Sagamore is making the most of nature’s hand. The golf course, located at 101 North Road in North Hampton, successfully installed and put online a 3.7 kilowatt wind turbine.
The roughly 50 foot structure – situated about a sand wedge shot from the clubhouse and in between the first and tenth fairways – is expected to supply a portion amount of the course clubhouse’s energy needs in the coming years.
“I’ve always been fascinated by wind technology in general,” explains owner Richard Luff. “And we knew from the beginning we had a great location that gets a lot of wind, so it was nice to finally see it go up.”
According to Luff, Sagamore had for years explored the possibility of wind technology on the course grounds. Unfortunately, until 2005 small businesses in New Hampshire were not permitted to “net meter” their energy, meaning they couldn’t collect money from a power utility if a system were able to generate more power than was needed. So any excess energy would have to be stored on site in a series of expensive, high-tech batteries for later use.
In 2005 that law was changed, paving the way for small businesses interested in alternative energy to explore increasingly viable – and potentially lucrative – sources of alternative energy.
“When we first learned about net metering, we thought to ourselves, ‘gee, maybe now something like wind turbine would work for us,’” recalls Luff. “We had the grounds tested over the winter of 2008 and 2009, and it turned out that we had an average of about 12 mile an hour winds, which was sufficient for a palatable payback.”
In 2009, with approval from the town in place, net metering a viable option, and the weather in an uncharacteristically cooperative mood, Luff was finally able to bring the project full circle.
According to Luff, in the first three days the Skystream Turbine – installed by Wind Guys USA, out of nearby Rye – had produced an average of 15 kilowatt hours per day of electricity. And, on top of giving up-to-the-minute calculations of generated power, the turbine also imparted an even more telling statistic: it had kept 44 pounds of CO2 out of the atmosphere.
Luff says he wanted the turbine installed during the winter, during the windiest months, in order to stockpile energy for the busy summer golfing season.
“There was no way we were going to be able to net meter during the summer, with all of our refrigerators and air conditioners running,” he said. “But right now we pretty much only have our lights and computers on, so hopefully all the gusty winter days will help save us money and energy over the next few months.”
While the wind technology is thought to be the first of its kind for a Granite State golf course, it was far from the first green-minded step taken by Sagamore: the course has over the years incorporated landscaping alternatives including soy bean meal, granite dust, kelp, fish emulsion, and turkey manure.
In an effort to further improve the “green” quality of their grounds, Sagamore-Hampton has partnered with York-based Purely Organic, a lawn care company that boasts some of the most effective green products on the market.
In addition, the golf course recently joined Green Alliance, a sort of “green business union” which helps certify and promote sustainability-minded businesses in and around the Seacoast.
In 2009 Sagamore was named by Golf Digest as one of the “Best Places to Play” in the country, and they even hold a Guinness World Record for the most holes played by a foursome in one day at 180 – ten full rounds if you’re keeping score at home.
Sagamore Springs Golf Club was founded in 1929 by R.E. Luff in Lynnfield, Massachusetts as one of the first public golf courses ever in New England. They opened their second location in North Hampton in 1962, followed by the Sagamore Golf Center, which features a pro shop and put-put course, in 2003.
After 33 years, R.E.’s son Peter Luff opened a second location in North Hampton, New Hampshire in 1962.
