Golf courses are well distributed around Wales, particularly in the vicinity of towns and cities and in or near coastal resorts. Although the greens and fairways are intensively managed, the areas of rough and mature trees can provide wildlife refuges, and birds are often seen feeding on the closely cropped greens and on the fairways. Sports fields are also widely distributed in towns and cities, but tend to comprise monocultures of rye grass (Lolium perenne), increasingly mixed with artificial grass. These surfaces are designed specifically for sports use and add little in the way of natural history interest.
