Currently, in the USA and especially in the Midwest region, urban expansion is developing turfgrass landscapes surrounding commercial sites, homes, and recreational areas on soils that have been agriculturally managed for decades. Often, golf courses are at the forefront of conversations concerning anthropogenic environmental impacts since they account for some of the most intensively managed soils in the world. Iowa golf courses provide an ideal location to evaluate whether golf course

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... nt is affecting the quality of soils at depth. Our study evaluated how soil properties relating to soil health and resiliency varied with depth at golf courses across Iowa and interpreted relationships of these properties to current golf course management, previous landuse, and inherent soil properties. Systematic variation in soil properties including sand content, NO₃, and SOM were observed with depth at six Iowa golf courses among three landform regions. Variability in sand content was identified between the 20 and 50 cm depth classes at all courses, where sand content decreased by as much as 37 %. Highest concentrations of SOM and NO₃ were found in the shallowest soils, whereas total C and P variability was not related to golf course management. Sand content and NO₃ were found to be directly related to golf course management, particularly at shallow depths. The effects of golf course management dissipated with depth and deeper soil variations were primarily due to natural geologic conditions.