St Andrews Links Trust has won the prestigious Environment Excellence Award for its commitment to best environmental practice, both on and off the courses, making it one of only 24 golf venues throughout Europe to achieve this award.
Colin Wood, chairman of the Scottish Golf Environment Group which runs the award scheme, praised the Links Trust for the effort that it had put into the development of its environmental programme.
‘The Trust’s work is now an exemplar of best practice, not only here in Scotland, but across Europe. This is well earned recognition, which we hope will encourage other clubs to achieve similar high standards,‘ said Mr Wood.
In its environmental statement St Andrews Links Trust confirmed its commitment to the maintenance and preservation of the historic links in a sustainable and environmentally friendly way.
Working together with local organisations and the Scottish Environment Golf Group, the Trust produced a comprehensive environmental awareness programme which includes nature and landscape conservation, minimal use of pesticides, herbicides and fungicides, water resource management, energy efficiency, recycling and waste minimisation.
“This is welcome recognition of our efforts to embrace environmental issues, adopt sustainable management practice and encourage wildlife. We have reduced refuse collection through the cardboard collections; we look closely at the herbicides we use and select the safest products available; and we have also cut down fertiliser usage with less fertilising of fairways.
“The Links have always been a haven for wildlife with protected species such as skylarks, hares and partridge breeding here, and we also currently have an unusually large population of sand martins nesting here,” said Gordon Moir, Links Superintendent.
Earlier this year the Trust also won the Scottish final of the British and International Golf Greenkeepers Association’s environmental competition.
St Andrews Links Trust www.standrews.org.uk
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