The Tool Desk
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Homes built on former golf courses can be safe, but the address alone cannot tell you whether a particular lot is safe. The answer depends on whether soil meets the cleanup standard for residential use or is protected by an approved remedy, whether drinking and irrigation water are safe, and whether flood and stormwater risks have been assessed separately. Before buying, review the site’s environmental reports, cleanup approval, recorded restrictions, water source and flood documents—not just a developer’s statement that the land was remediated.
There is no national count of homes on former courses or reliable national rate of how often their soil exceeds residential standards. Conditions vary by state, course history and lot. A course can have clean groundwater but contaminated soil, or the reverse; a chemical cleanup also does not establish that a lot will not flood.
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The central issue is exposure: what remains in the ground, where it is, and whether people can come into contact with it. Golf-course pesticides and maintenance practices can leave metals or persistent chemicals in soil. Contamination can also affect shallow groundwater, surface water or sediment. Separately, a course’s low-lying terrain, ponds and drainage features can affect flood exposure.
Three questions need separate answers:
- Soil: Does the soil people may touch meet the applicable residential direct-contact criteria? If not, is there an approved remedy—such as soil removal or a clean-soil cap—with enforceable rules that prevent exposure to what remains?
- Water: Does the home use municipal water, or is a private well allowed and tested? Are restrictions in place against using contaminated shallow groundwater for drinking or watering food crops?
- Flood and stormwater: Is the lot, road or drainage system exposed to flooding, and would floodwater or erosion damage a soil cap or other remedy?
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s position, reported by The West Volusia Beacon, is that former courses can be safely repurposed with appropriate remediation and planning. That is a conditional statement, not a guarantee about every parcel. The evidence that matters is the site’s assessment, approved cleanup and the controls that will remain after construction.
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Which chemicals should buyers look for?
Arsenic, lead, mercury and older organochlorine pesticides are recurring concerns in investigations of former golf courses. The exact list should be based on the course’s history and application records, not a generic assumption that every course used every chemical.
- Arsenic and lead: Historical use of lead arsenate and other arsenical pesticides can leave both metals in surface soil. Unlike organic pesticides, arsenic and lead do not break down. Pennsylvania DEP’s 2024 draft guidance says that arsenical-pesticide residues can create human-health concerns, but it is draft guidance focused on lead and arsenic applications—not a final statewide rule or a complete treatment of all golf-course chemicals.
- Persistent pesticides: Dieldrin, chlordane, DDT and related compounds can remain relevant even though they are organic chemicals. Pennsylvania’s draft guidance makes a general point that organic pesticides can break down over time, but that should not be taken to mean that persistent organochlorines have disappeared from a particular site. Florida project records and New Jersey guidance continue to identify them as analytes of concern.
- Mercury: Older mercury-containing fungicides may have left residues around greens and tees. Minnesota’s Department of Agriculture reported a Twin Cities-area course where mercury under greens and some tees exceeded residential values; arsenic and chromium were also detected. The agency said the operator had used Calo-clor, a mercury-based fungicide canceled for use in 1994. New Jersey’s 2022 guidance refers to mercury-containing fungicides being banned in 1992. Those are agency statements about different dates and legal actions, not one national ban date.
- Other chemicals: Herbicides, fungicides, fuel tanks, waste disposal, imported fill and chemical spills may require investigation beyond the historical turf-pesticide list. The course’s records and site history should guide the laboratory analytes.
For context, New Jersey’s guidance uses a background-based arsenic soil remediation standard of 19 parts per million because arsenic also occurs naturally in state soils; it contrasts that with a strictly health-based level of less than 1 ppm. Florida’s former Ponce de Leon assessment cited a Florida residential arsenic target of 2.1 mg/kg from 2005, noting that an earlier target had been 0.8 mg/kg. Neither number is a current national limit. Cleanup values depend on the state, date, exposure assumptions and intended land use. Check the applicable agency’s current criteria and the project’s closure documents rather than applying a number from another state or an older report.
Where are former-course soil hotspots most likely?
Contamination is often unevenly distributed. Greens, tees, old tees, practice greens, maintenance and chemical-mixing areas, clipping-disposal piles and drainage swales deserve special attention; a clean sample from the middle of a fairway does not establish that a former green now used as a backyard is clean.
New Jersey DEP’s historically applied pesticide guidance calls for particular attention to greens and tees, including historical locations visible in aerial photographs and areas near the clubhouse. It notes that pesticide-related arsenic is typically highest in surface or cultivated soil and declines with depth, while naturally elevated arsenic may remain high or increase deeper down. A surface lead-to-arsenic ratio around 4:1 can indicate lead-arsenate residues in the context of that guidance, but it is an investigative clue—not a buyer’s standalone safety test.
Minnesota’s golf-course sampling guidance recommends covering greens, tee boxes, pesticide mixing, loading and storage areas, and clipping-disposal locations. For sprayed areas, the guidance calls for separate samples from 0–6 inches, 6 inches to 1 foot, and 1–2 feet; it cautions against compositing across those depth intervals. Maryland’s golf-course assessment guidance also recommends biasing sampling toward tees, greens and fairways, likely future yards and playgrounds, and low drainage areas where runoff may have collected. These approaches show why a sparse grid that misses historical features can miss the relevant question.
Phase II sampling should distinguish broad background conditions from likely hotspots and should be broad enough to estimate both typical and maximum concentrations. Historical aerial photos, topographic maps, application records, interviews with former staff and construction plans can help locate old course features that have since been reshaped.
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Does a brownfield label mean the houses are unsafe?
No. A brownfield designation means the reuse may be complicated by the possible presence of contamination; it does not, by itself, mean that finished homes are unsafe or that cleanup is complete. The EPA’s brownfields overview describes the term in those terms and lists contaminants such as arsenic and lead as examples.
EPA distinguishes a screening level from a cleanup level. A screening result is an early flag for further evaluation; by itself, it does not prove that someone is being exposed. The cleanup level is tied to the intended use and exposure pathways. Residential criteria are generally more protective than commercial or industrial criteria, but residential cleanup does not always mean unrestricted use or soil free of every detectable contaminant.
As the EPA explains about risk-based cleanups, a typical cleanup may leave some contamination on site. A remedy can use physical controls—such as a clean-soil cap, pavement, fencing or a vapor barrier—and legal controls such as deed restrictions, easements, zoning limits or groundwater-use bans. The EPA says subsequent owners are responsible for complying with land-use restrictions and maintaining required engineering and institutional controls. If the assumed use changes, additional cleanup may be needed.
This is why “remediated” does not answer every buyer’s question. A cap may be compliant but incompatible with digging a pool, planting an in-ground vegetable garden or regrading the yard. A groundwater ban may make sense for a home on public water but be unacceptable to a buyer who expects to use a private well. Ask what the remedy assumes and whether those assumptions match how you plan to use the property.
What do documented course conversions show—and not show?
Published examples demonstrate why a project-specific record matters; they do not establish a national failure rate.
At the former Ponce de Leon Golf Course in St. Augustine, a 2006 public health assessment by ATSDR and the Florida Department of Health reported arsenic results above the assessment’s cited 2.1 mg/kg comparison value: 132 of 284 results, with a maximum of 44 mg/kg at a green. A second data set had a maximum of 160 mg/kg, with 92 of 191 results above the table’s comparison value. More than 800 tons of impacted soil had been removed around a demolished maintenance facility, and additional work was planned. The assessment called the site an “indeterminate public health hazard” because evaluation was incomplete at the time; it warned that arsenic could be a public health hazard if not cleaned up before residential use. Those historical findings are not a report on the condition of any present-day house.
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The same assessment reported on-site groundwater arsenic results and recommended deed restrictions against using shallow groundwater for drinking or other uses, including irrigation of food crops. Its table’s maximum cell is written as “380/120” µg/L, so it should not be simplified into a single unambiguous headline value. Nearby private wells sampled in 2003 did not exceed drinking-water screening levels in that sampling, but that did not establish that the site’s shallow groundwater was clean.
In DeLand, Florida, a 2021 report on the proposed Beresford Reserve conversion quoted the project consultant saying that most samples from greens and tees exceeded a residential direct-exposure target for arsenic and/or organochlorine pesticides, principally dieldrin and chlordane. In Boynton Beach, a 2026 local-news account described a different project where groundwater was reported within acceptable ranges while soil sampling and removal at affected tees and greens remained unfinished. Those accounts illustrate that soil and water can diverge—and that a brownfield designation or a proposed housing plan is not the same as completed cleanup.
A 2026 consultant account of a 66-acre Florida redevelopment described site-specific arsenic targets set at two times the default residential risk-based screening level in common areas and four times that default on residential lots. The consultant said enforceable occupancy restrictions excluded children from the exposure assumptions and that covenants and homeowners-association controls preserved those assumptions. It reported more than $5 million in avoided remediation costs. These are the consultant’s figures for one project, not a statewide standard or a cleanup value that a family neighborhood can automatically use. A cleanup assumption must fit both the land use and the people who can legally live there.
How do you check groundwater, ponds and drinking water?
Identify the water source and restrictions separately from the soil remedy. A municipal supply can address drinking water while shallow groundwater or a pond remains unsuitable for private use.
Shallow groundwater under greens, tees, maintenance areas and drainage swales is a reasonable place to investigate. Minnesota’s agriculture department warns that legacy mercury or arsenic products can reach groundwater and surface water. Ponds and lakes may be stormwater features as well as amenities. Do not assume every course pond is contaminated, but do not drink pond water or assume it is safe for vegetable irrigation. Ask whether sediment was sampled if a pond edge, dock or lakefront yard is part of the proposed use.
For a lot on municipal water, check whether the recorded restrictions prohibit private wells or personal use of on-site groundwater. A restriction in the deed or an enforceable covenant is more durable than a sales brochure. For a property with a private well—or a neighboring well that could be affected—request appropriate laboratory testing for drinking-water contaminants, including arsenic, lead and pesticides relevant to the site history. Do not treat an old neighbor’s test as evidence about a different well or a later date.
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Any consumer soil test is supplementary, not a substitute for the investigation and laboratory methods used for cleanup decisions. A metals-only kit will not answer whether dieldrin, chlordane, toxaphene or DDT is present. For questions about soil in a garden or other uncovered area, use a qualified environmental professional to determine whether sampling is warranted and how it should be collected; Minnesota’s regulatory guidance says grocery-store jars, plastic jugs and bags are not appropriate containers for this work.
Will a neighborhood flood because the course had ponds?
Not necessarily, but chemical cleanup does not answer the flood question. Former courses often include low areas, ponds, wetlands and swales, so buyers should independently review flood mapping, finished elevations, drainage design and permits.
The EPA’s Revitalization-Ready Guide recommends evaluating whether a site lies in a 100-year or 500-year flood zone and considering whether extreme weather could undermine a safe remedy. A clean-soil cap is protective only while it remains intact; flooding, erosion or later excavation can expose buried material. The EPA also notes that land-use controls may restrict placing certain waste under a cap or in an on-site landfill in a floodplain, potentially requiring material to be moved.
Before buying, check the FEMA Flood Map Service Center for the lot, roads and stormwater areas, and request any elevation certificate and relevant flood-map revisions. Ask what the base flood elevation is, how the finished-floor elevation compares, whether former ponds were filled or retained, and where their storage capacity went. Confirm who holds the stormwater or environmental-resource permit and whether it is separate from environmental cleanup approval. Wetlands can be present even when not shown on a map, and activities that directly affect them may require permits. No national data here supports saying that former-course subdivisions flood more often than other subdivisions; drainage consequences must be evaluated for the particular site.
What should you request before buying?
Ask the seller, developer or relevant agency for the reports and recorded documents that connect sampling results to the home you are considering. If a document does not cover the lot or the way you intend to use it, ask an environmental professional what additional review is needed.
- Phase I environmental site assessment: Request the full report, not just a conclusion page. A Phase I generally reviews records, conducts a site walk and interviews people familiar with the property; it usually does not include chemical sampling. For this land use, it should address the golf-course history, maintenance buildings, mixing and storage areas, ponds and other relevant conditions. EPA’s reuse guide says the All Appropriate Inquiries rule recognizes ASTM E1527-13 and ASTM E2247-16 as compliant. If you seek CERCLA liability protections, AAI must be conducted or updated within one year before acquisition, and specified components—including interviews, lien searches, records review, visual inspection and the environmental professional’s declaration—must be current within 180 days.
- Phase II assessment and complete lab results: Check which historic and current greens, tees, fairways, maintenance areas, clipping piles and swales were sampled. Confirm that samples represent the future yards, playgrounds and other high-contact areas; that shallow and deeper samples were kept distinct; and that the analyte list reflects application records. Ask whether results were compared with residential direct-contact criteria, not only commercial or industrial criteria.
- Cleanup or closure documents: Obtain the agency’s approval or closure letter and any brownfield or cleanup order. Determine what was removed, where it went, what remains in place and what land-use assumptions support the decision. Soil removed as a remedy may be taken to a permitted landfill, while other projects rely on caps or restrictions.
- Deed restrictions and maintenance plans: Request the current deed, covenants, easements and homeowners-association rules. Look for limits on digging, gardens, wells, groundwater use or occupancy, and determine who inspects and repairs caps after the developer leaves.
- Water documentation: Identify the drinking-water source, any private-well testing, shallow-groundwater results and any restrictions on wells or irrigation. Ask whether relevant pond or sediment sampling was conducted.
- Flood, wetlands and stormwater records: Review the FEMA map, elevation certificate, map revisions, stormwater permit and information about ponds or wetlands that were filled, retained or redesigned. Confirm that the flood review addresses the long-term performance of any soil remedy.
- Construction controls: If work is ongoing, ask what dust-control measures and soil-handling procedures are required. Disturbing contaminated soil can create an airborne exposure pathway during grading; construction controls protect workers and nearby residents, but do not replace a permanent remedy.
A Phase I is a starting point, not proof that a site is clean. If it omits the course’s history or obvious site features, or if the Phase II does not sample likely hotspots, ask an independent environmental professional to explain the gap before relying on the conclusion.
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How should you compare two “remediated” homes?
Compare the exposure assumptions and obligations, not just whether both listings use the word “remediated.” A project using ordinary residential direct-contact criteria with removal may offer a different fit from one that leaves contamination under a cap and depends on strict restrictions.
- Standard: Was the site cleaned to unrestricted or ordinary residential criteria, or does closure depend on site-specific levels and restrictions?
- Who may live there: Does the approved remedy assume children are excluded? If so, is that assumption enforceable, and does it match your household? A family neighborhood should not rely on an age-restricted project’s exposure assumptions.
- What remains: Was impacted soil removed, or is it under a cap, pavement or other control? Can your intended gardening, landscaping or pool plans disturb the remedy?
- Water: Is the home on municipal water with a recorded well ban, or is use of a private well permitted?
- Sampling coverage: Did the investigation cover old greens and tees, maintenance and chemical-use areas, swales and the actual future yard?
- Flood resilience: Is the lot in a mapped hazard area? Could flooding or erosion damage the cap or drainage controls?
- Long-term responsibility: Who maintains, inspects and documents the remedy after the initial sale?
A higher cleanup concentration is not automatically unsafe if the risk assumptions are accepted by the regulator and the exposure controls are real, enforceable and maintained. It can nevertheless be a poor fit for a buyer whose family, gardening plans or property changes conflict with those assumptions.
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Is PFAS a proven former-golf-course problem?
The sources cited here do not establish how often PFOA or PFOS occur in former golf-course soil or groundwater. A golf-course history alone is not proof of PFAS contamination, and there is no basis here for saying these chemicals are common or rare on such sites.
EPA designated PFOA and PFOS as CERCLA hazardous substances on April 17, 2024. Its brownfields FAQ says the designation remained in effect while litigation was ongoing and does not automatically assign legal liability to property owners. A thorough Phase I should consider conditions that could indicate a release, but testing decisions should be tied to the site’s documented history and applicable guidance. See the EPA’s PFAS brownfields FAQ for the agency’s explanation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I grow vegetables in a yard on a former golf course?
It depends on the soil results and remedy for the exact area, not just the subdivision’s overall closure. If the remedy assumes residents will not disturb a cap or grow food in native soil, use raised beds with verified clean soil only if the restrictions allow them, and confirm the plan with the environmental professional or regulator responsible for the site.
Does a Phase I environmental assessment test the soil?
Usually not. A Phase I is generally a records review, site inspection and interview process used to identify recognized environmental conditions; sampling is typically part of a Phase II investigation when needed.
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If the developer says the site passed, can I get the cleanup records myself?
Ask the seller or developer for the reports and closure documents, and ask the state cleanup program or local environmental agency whether the project file is publicly available. Compare the documents’ parcel boundaries and restrictions with the lot and deed you would acquire.
Do arsenic and lead disappear after the course closes?
No. These elements do not break down, so a remedy must remove them, isolate them or otherwise control exposure. Some organic pesticides can degrade, but persistent compounds may remain and should be considered according to site history and sampling.
