The Golf Environment Awards (GEAs) have been a part of the golf industry for twenty-four years, but how much do you really know about the awards and are you fully aware of the benefits of applying?
Environmental excellence on the golf course
Golf is enjoyed by millions across the globe, and there are now more than 30,000 golf courses worldwide, each having an increasingly important part to play within their local environment.
With the ever-increasing spotlight on environmental matters, it is fundamentally important for golf courses worldwide to assess what they can do to achieve environmental sustainability while continuing to maximise the enjoyment of golf.
The Golf Environment Awards provide the platform from which the golf industry can demonstrate environmental excellence in all its forms. Set up in 1995, the GEAs recognise and reward clubs for their outstanding conservation efforts.
Award categories
- Environmental Golf Course of the Year
- Conservation Greenkeeper of the Year
- Outstanding Environmental Project of the Year
- Operation Pollinator
Read more about the Award categories here
Leading the charge
Golf courses around the world are achieving tangible results by implementing environmentally sustainable management projects across their courses. Examples include turning out-of-play spaces into refuges for important pollinators, working to reintroduce threatened species such as the small blue and working alongside local ecology and environment groups to improve the club’s knowledge on how to manage the species on site.
The GEAs also work as an incentive to get members chatting about ecology on the golf course. These projects are achieving an increase in habitat varieties, improving playing experiences for golfers and providing a positive contribution to wildlife.
Focus on best practice
It seems to me, however, that one thing which a lot of clubs get caught up on is believing that these awards are exclusively about ecology. In the past, the awards may have been more catered towards this theme, however these are the golf ENVIRONMENT awards, meaning that there is a huge umbrella of projects which fall into its category which are not all entirely ecology based.
It is also important to look wider, maybe at your energy consumption and generation. Here’s some environmental initiatives you might have overlooked:
- Have you used a government incentive to diversify your energy sources to include renewable forms, such as solar panels or biomass boilers?
- Have you invested in hybrid and and electric mowers and tractors for the course?
- Do you do any rainwater harvesting or have your waste water system on a closed loop to recycle the water you consume?
- Are you a Zero Waste facility, utilising compostable coffee cups and paper bags?
- Have you invested in a water efficient irrigation system with adjustable heads that can be controlled individually to in-play areas only?
If any of these apply to you – you too should be applying for the Golf Environment Awards. These are all excellent examples of initiatives which will achieve real sustainable improvements to your club.
How to Enter
- You will receive CPD points just for entering, which you can do online, or request a form by emailing info@golfenvironmentawards.com.
- Golf clubs can enter more than one category
- When completing the form, provide as much detail as possible and include as much supplementary information as you can (ie photographs and other relevant documentation).
Don’t be put off applying if your club currently has no affiliation with STRI, this is not required.
Entry is easy, completely free and open to all golf clubs and courses across the UK, big or small, so get applying today – we’d love to hear from you.
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The Golf Environment Awards 