Golf course fairways are sometimes perceived as a source of nutrient pollution. In 2001, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources proposed native plants for vegetative buffer strips to reduce nutrient runoff into nearby surface waters. Our objectives were to compare the relative efficacy of fine fescue turf and native prairie vegetation to reduce nutrient runoff and leachate from golf course fairways. Field plots were installed on two fairways at Wisconsin River Golf Course in north central Wisconsin in 2003. Plots were dormant-seeded with either fine fescue or prairie seed at ratios of 1:2, 1:4, or 1:8 relative to the length of fairway each treatment would buffer. Wick lysimeters were installed to capture leachate while weirs placed at the end of the plot slopes channeled runoff into collection bins. Annual runoff averaged 43 mm in 2004 due to lack of ground cover during snow melt; runoff was only 4.5 mm in 2005. Phosphorus runoff ranged from 0.12-0.22 kg P per ha in 2004 and 0.02-0.05 kg P per ha in 2005. Nitrogen in leachate ranged from 2.9-32 mg per L in 2004 and 2.3-5.0 mg per L in 2005. Vegetation covered 80% or more of plots by mid-summer of 2004 and greatly reduced runoff and leachate contaminants. Fine fescue covered 90% or more of the plots by late spring 2004 while annual weeds provided the primary cover in the prairie plots in both years. None of the treatments caused any statistically significant differences in runoff or leachate. The nearly 100% grass cover on the fairways yielded similar or lesser amounts of runoff and leachate volume and nutrient amounts compared to buffer strips. The amount of ground surface covered by vegetation appears to be more important for controlling runoff and leachate than the type of vegetation.