Entries for the 2013 STRI Golf Environment Awards are now open, rewarding both individuals and golf courses for their environmental and ecological best practice across the UK.
The prestigious awards are managed and administered by STRI, the world’s leading sports turf consultancy. Each entry is independently judged, not on the scale of project or financial investment, but on what a golf course has achieved and how it has benefited the environment.
2013 sees the launch of a new format for the awards with three winning categories:
1. Environmental Golf Course of the Year – recognising and rewarding golf clubs that can demonstrate efficient management across each of the following four areas:
- Nature Conservation Management
- Turfgrass Management
- Waste Management
- Water Management
2. Conservation Greenkeeper Award – recognising and rewarding an outstanding individual contribution to the success of environmental and ecological management.
3. Outstanding Environmental Project of the Year – recognising and rewarding golf courses who have implemented a successful environmental project, with clear objectives and targets on how the project will directly contribute to a better environment.
The coveted awards are supported by a group of sponsors committed to supporting and promoting proven sustainable projects within golf clubs – Syngenta, CountyTurf, Ransomes Jacobsen, Farmura, Greenkeeping, Golf Monthly, Operation Pollinator, BIGGA and Greenkeeper International.
Also supporting the awards is winning Ryder Cup team member Justin Rose, who continues as the official ambassador of the awards for the fourth consecutive year.
Bob Taylor, STRI’s Head of Ecology, said “Golf has an exceptionally significant role to play in sustaining and improving local environments and these awards give us the opportunity to highlight the most effective environmental projects and solutions from all across the UK. The awards have now gained both recognition and momentum within the golf industry with more entries received each year and we encourage golf clubs to enter to show the real contribution golf is making to the environment.”
Ian Willett, Course Manager at Thorpeness Golf Club, the overall winning club for 2012 said: “Winning this award is beyond all our expectations. If you have done anything on your course that enhances the environment I would encourage you to have a go at entering the awards. Taking part will raise the profile of your club giving your Greenkeeping team and members great pride in their golf course.”
Entry to the 2013 STRI Golf Environment Awards is now open. Entry is free and details can be found on the website www.golfenvironmentawards.com