This article examines the golf industry's evolving responses to environment‐related problems since the mid‐1960s. Drawing from an analysis of golf superintendent trade publications, the article shows how golf industry members initially denied that their work could have negative impacts, but eventually acknowledged potential golf‐related environmental problems—and ultimately positioned themselves as environmental leaders through various forms of professionalization. The analysis also reveals contradictions in superintendents' messaging about their environmental expertise and about the safety of turfgrass chemicals. The article concludes with reflections on why these contradictions should inspire concerns about golf's nascent environmental leadership, and on corporate environmentalism generally.