Summary
A recent study published in JAMA Network Open has revealed a striking connection between living near golf courses and an increased risk of Parkinson's disease. This article explores the researchers' theories surrounding pesticide drift and groundwater contamination, while providing important, reassuring context for Canadian readers.
If you live within a mile or two of a golf course, a new study has some findings worth knowing about.
Published in JAMA Network Open in May 2025, the study examined whether proximity to golf courses is linked to Parkinson’s disease (PD) risk, and whether pesticides used to maintain those courses might be contaminating nearby drinking water.
Here’s what researchers found, and what it might mean if you live near a course.
The Study, in Brief
Researchers at the Mayo Clinic and Barrow Neurological Institute used decades of medical records from southern Minnesota and western Wisconsin, covering 419 people diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease between 1991 and 2015, compared against more than 5,100 matched individuals without the disease.
Using each person’s home address, the team calculated their distance to the nearest of 139 golf courses in the region, and cross-referenced that with water service data to see whether people were drinking water sourced near a golf course, and whether that groundwater was considered “vulnerable” (meaning more susceptible to surface contamination, due to shallow bedrock or porous soil).
What They Found
The results were notable. People living within one mile of a golf course had 126% higher odds of developing Parkinson’s disease compared to those living more than six miles away.
The risk didn’t increase indefinitely the closer someone lived, instead, it plateaued. Odds of Parkinson’s were elevated and roughly constant for anyone living within 3 miles of a course, then dropped by about 13% for every additional mile beyond that.
Drinking water sources mattered too. People whose tap water came from a groundwater system serving a golf course had nearly double the odds of Parkinson’s compared to people on groundwater systems with no golf course nearby, and 49% higher odds compared to people using private wells.
The strongest link of all was in areas with “vulnerable” groundwater, meaning shallow bedrock or coarse soil that lets surface contaminants seep through more easily. People drinking groundwater from a service area with a golf course in a vulnerable region had 82% higher odds of Parkinson’s than those in non-vulnerable groundwater regions with a golf course nearby.
Why Would a Golf Course Matter?
The researchers’ working theory centres on pesticides. Golf courses are maintained with herbicides, fungicides, and insecticides to keep greens and fairways pristine and in the United States, golf course pesticide application rates can run up to 15 times higher than in parts of Europe.
Several of the pesticides historically used on golf courses, including chlorpyrifos, 2,4-D, and maneb, have previously been linked to Parkinson’s disease in other research. The proposed mechanism involves pesticides like paraquat and rotenone triggering oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction in dopamine-producing brain cells, the same cells that progressively die off in Parkinson’s disease.
The researchers point to two likely exposure routes:
- Contaminated groundwater — pesticides applied to turf can leach into the soil and reach the water table, especially in areas with vulnerable groundwater geology. The study cites prior research finding golf course groundwater on Cape Cod contaminated with multiple pesticides, with one detected at levels more than 200 times above the health guidance limit.
- Airborne drift — the researchers found the golf-course association was actually strongest in urban areas, leading them to speculate that denser urban surroundings may concentrate airborne pesticide exposure for nearby residents.
What This Means for Canadians
A few important caveats are worth keeping in mind before drawing conclusions about Canadian golf courses specifically.
This study was conducted entirely in the U.S., using American golf course maintenance practices and a population that was over 96% white, a demographic and regulatory context that doesn’t map directly onto Canada.
Some of the specific pesticides named in the study are not used in Canada. Paraquat and maneb, both flagged in the research as having links to Parkinson’s, are banned for use in Canada. That doesn’t rule out all pesticide exposure risk near Canadian courses (other compounds remain in use here), but it does mean the exact chemical pathway described in this study doesn’t translate one-to-one.
A shorter golf season doesn’t necessarily mean less pesticide use. It’s a reasonable assumption that Canada’s roughly six-month golf season, versus year-round play in much of the southern U.S., would mean less total pesticide applied per course. But the research on this is counterintuitive.
A study comparing golf course pesticide risk across U.S. regions and Europe found that climate and growing season length did not predict pesticide risk the way researchers expected. Golf courses in the southern U.S., despite their longer seasons, didn’t show higher pesticide risk than courses in the northern U.S.. Regulatory environment turned out to be the strongest predictor instead.
That’s a meaningful point in Canada’s favour: Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency independently assesses and approves every pesticide before it can be used here, and several products still permitted in the U.S. are restricted or banned in Canada.
Locally, some Ontario watershed groups have also found that golf courses apply pesticides at roughly five times the rate of nearby farms, a reminder that even with a shorter season and tighter regulation, golf course turf maintenance remains a meaningfully pesticide-intensive activity here too.
The researchers themselves are cautious about causation. This was a case-control study, which can identify associations but can’t prove that golf course pesticides directly caused the Parkinson’s cases observed. The authors acknowledge they didn’t have data on participants’ occupational history, time spent away from home, or genetic risk factors, all of which influence Parkinson’s risk independently of where someone lives.
It’s also worth remembering that Parkinson’s disease has a long prodromal period, symptoms can begin developing in the brain 10 to 15 years before diagnosis, which makes pinpointing a single environmental exposure especially difficult.
The Researchers’ Takeaway
Despite the limitations, the study’s authors argue the findings are significant enough to warrant a policy response, not necessarily an individual one.
“Public health policies to reduce the risk of groundwater contamination and airborne exposure from pesticides on golf courses may help reduce risk of PD in nearby neighborhoods,” the researchers concluded.
In other words: this isn’t a call for people to sell their homes or avoid living near golf courses. It’s a call for more research, including studies outside the U.S., and a closer look at how golf courses manage pesticide use and protect nearby groundwater.
For Canadians specifically, this remains an open question rather than a settled one. If you’re curious about pesticide practices at a golf course in your area, most provincial environment ministries maintain public information on pesticide regulations, and many municipalities publish local water quality testing results.
For general information on Parkinson’s disease, visit Parkinson Canada.
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