It was a great day for golf as the President of Iceland opened the recently held FEGGA Conference (Federation of European Golf Greenkeeping Associations)
It was very refreshing to hear the President talking about golf and nature working together and how it is important to Iceland. He also spoke about golf being for everyone and the fact that 10% of the population are now playing on a regular basis and up to half of them playing some five times per week. He also spoke about the recently signed agreement with the Icelandic Golf Association, where all 65 golf courses have signed up to the first stage of GEO certification, this is a first for golf and underlines the commitment to environmental golf course management in Iceland.
Edwin Roald, Golf Course Architect and Journalist commented: “The number of affiliated golfers in Iceland is still growing despite the economic downturn that has had a significant effect on the disposable income and purchasing power. This makes Iceland one of relatively few exceptions to the rule that participation in golf is generally decreasing. Although some of the factors for Iceland’s growth are isolated to the country’s location, terrain and climate, there are still several key lessons in the Icelandic example that can be learned from.”
The Conference was attended by over twenty Greenkeeper Associations and some forty organisations coming from over twenty Countries globally.
This year’s Conference also hosted the International Summit, an event that was established in 1990 and attended by Greenkeeper Associations annually to discuss the prominent current issues facing golf and the golf related business of managing golf courses world-wide.
The Conference and Summit concentrated on a variety of core subjects that fall high on the list of industry challenges that golf and the golf industry is facing today. The whole Conference was geared up to be very interactive, the result being to produce a range of information that will help and support Greenkeepers Associations and the twenty other organisations that were also present at this special event.
FEGGA continues to strive for high standards and delivering on topics that can help greenkeepers and the collective industry. I believe we raised the bar a little more with this event and provided some excellent tools and data that can be used by all associations and industry partners in facing the challenges and furthering the development of greenkeeping, both nationally and globally.
FEGGA www.fegga.org