Tag Archive for: golf

Milestone for golf in the Netherlands

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Milestone for golf in the Netherlands: At the Sportive Connect conference on Thursday 23 January in Amsterdam, the Dutch sports sector made an important step in its contribution to the climate agreement by signing the Sustainable Sports Roadmap.

The conference also recognised a milestone in the field of sustainable sport – one hundred golf clubs in the Netherlands have achieved the GEO Certified® distinction. One of the signatories on this agreement is Netherlands Golf Federation Director, Jeroen Stevens.

Milestone for golf in the Netherlands

Golfclub Meerssen in the spotlight

Gerard Dielessen, General Director of the Dutch Olympic Committee and Dutch Sport (NOC * NSF), pointed out that Dutch Golf placed sustainability high on its agenda a long time ago and the sport has already achieved a significant amount as a leader in the field.

Dutch golf’s achievement was celebrated at the congress with the presentation of the GEO Certification to the one hundredth club, Golfclub Meerssen.

Commenting on the announcement, Jonathan Smith, Executive Director, GEO Foundation said: “GEO Foundation is proud to support sustainable golf in the Netherlands in its strategy and delivery of credible, measurable results. The NGF’s vision in creating the future they wanted for the sport is an important example of voluntary leadership.”

“Sustainability because we want to”

In one of the information sessions at the congress, NGF director Jeroen Stevens elaborated on the sustainability of golf through OnCourse Netherlands, the program that golf clubs use on their way to become GEO Certified. Stevens highlighted the shift in golf from “sustainability because we have to” to “sustainability because we want to”. He pointed out that this is also expected by society: research shows that the need for sustainable thinking and doing increases with each generation.

Stevens also underlined the many benefits and opportunities that sustainable management offers. “In 2009, as a volunteer on the golf club’s course committee, I was faced with sustainability for the first time and I have since learned that sustainable management provides a better golf course at lower costs,” he said.

Don’t wait until everyone is ready

Stevens believes that all sports would benefit from the OnCourse Netherlands/GEO programme used by golf. “GEO is about awareness of sustainability and measurement. You have to measure to know what you are doing. GEO is also about community, because that is also sustainability. And I recommend that you just start making your sport more sustainable and not wait until everyone is ready,” he said.

The Netherlands now has more GEO Certified® golf facilities than any other country in the world and has plans for even more to achieve golf’s sustainability distinction in the coming years, benefitting the clubs individually and the sport collectively.

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EcoBunker at unique ‘golf lounge’

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EcoBunker at unique ‘golf lounge’: One of the most unusual and innovative golf projects in the world is taking shape in Mexico City, and EcoBunker technology is playing a critical role.

Architect Agustin Piza was commissioned by his client, a leading Mexican executive, to build a golf practice facility in the grounds of the client’s under construction new house. “I think my client had a regular putting and chipping green in mind, but I don’t do regular things,” says Piza.

EcoBunker at unique 'golf lounge'

The architect conceived something he calls the ‘Golf Lounge’, a large, freeform putting green and surrounds that enables users to practice any golf shot they like from up to 70 yards. At the centre of the construction is a large revetted sand bunker, which is where the EcoBunker solution is deployed. And, in the heart of that bunker is to be found the centrepiece of the whole ‘Golf Lounge’ concept – a fire pit.

“The central bunker is key to the entire composition,” says Piza. “During the day you can practice all types of shots from 70 yards in. Flops, bump and runs, lag putts. Anything you want to create, it’s there. It is a multi-purpose area – during the day the family can enjoy either practicing golf or playing in the sandbox. In the evenings, you turn on the music, turn on the lights, turn on the firepit and relax. You can still putt around it, have a putting contest, whatever you like. I knew I needed the central sandpit to be revetted. I did my research and with the evidence available to me EcoBunker is the most proven system in the world for constructing revetted bunkers, especially in climates like Mexico City’s. I spoke to Richard Allen, the inventor of synthetic revetting, who I had met several times at EIGCA functions and said ‘Send me your best installer’. He sent me Llewelyn Matthews who did a fantastic job.”

Piza says that this job, because it is in a domestic environment, was rather different to most architectural projects. “The safe rule in architecture is that form follows function, but in this case I wanted the function to follow the form. This meant extra detail to creative and engineering work,” he explains. ”I wanted the client and his family to fall in love with it just by seeing it through the windows of their home, whether or not they were golfers. So I conceived it as a kind of ‘grass sculpture’ that would be both beautiful to look at and functional. If it is just a golf facility, it is a waste of space to anyone who doesn’t play golf. This way, it is something for the entire family to enjoy.”

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More support for golf clubs

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More support for golf clubs: As sustainability and climate action become increasingly important to all types of businesses, including golf clubs and courses, GEO Foundation continues to add new benefits and services to the OnCourse programme. 

Through continual dialogue with golf club and course managers and golf associations, and as part of the mission to keep adding value to the growing number of people OnCourse, new features include:

More support for golf clubs

  • Annual Sustainability Scorecard– tracks the 32 Sustainability Metrics for Golf, giving clubs easy access to key data and year-on-year trends, plus professional-standard presentations and graphics prepared for each club.
  • OnCourse Carbon Calculator– calculates carbon emissions, sequestration & balance plus guidance on how to improve.
  • Communications materials– more ways to communicate with colleagues, golfers and community – including monthly themed campaigns for clubs that want to do more around a particular issue.
  • Consultations – free call to determine which aspects of OnCourse will best meet a club’s aims and needs, and how to get started or connect with additional support if desired.

Now in eleven languages, the programme is proving to be a valuable resource for clubs and courses of all sizes around the world, with more clubs now joining every day to unlock the many business benefits of sustainability and to play their part.

As described by one club recently, “OnCourse provides a vision of how golf clubs can and should be in the 21st Century – as clubs that act as stewards for the land, use resources responsibly and are integrated as part of their communities.” – Bob Roberts, Market Harborough Golf Club.

Clubs around the world have already shared hundreds of examples of this type of action, their projects and results, provided as an always growing library of ideas in OnCourse and also helping to strengthen the reputation of golf and the value it brings to nature and people.

Over the coming months, many workshops and events are taking place with GEO Foundation and partners, check with GEO or your local golf association for more information.

And in the UK, visit the BTME Sustainability Zone in January 2020.

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Golf greens destroyed with clubs

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Golf greens destroyed with clubs: A golf club is counting the cost of a ‘disheartening and stressful’ vandal attack.

Seven out of the 18 greens at Oldham Golf Club were hacked at with a golf club or clubs.

Golf greens destroyed with clubs

Photographs posted by the club on social media show one green with dozens and dozens of divots in the surface after what they described as ‘sustained and mindless vandalism’.

The club’s greenkeeper spoke of his upset and described some of the damage caused as ‘irreparable’.

Nick Lawrence said: “I could have sat down and cried.”

Founded in 1892, the moorland course on Lees New Road in Oldham is noted for its views of the surrounding area at the foot of the Pennines.

Mr Lawrence said he arrived at the club to discover the damage on Saturday morning.

He said he believed the attack took place on Friday night and a golf club or clubs were used.

The cost to repair the damage is unclear at the moment, Mr Lawrence said.

He described it as ‘mostly just time and labour’, but said some of the damage caused would not be able to be repaired.

“It was just a mess,” he said.

“I’ve spent the past three days fixing it.”

Mr Lawrence and Derek Saunders oversee the management of the club.

“There’s just the two of us that work here,” Mr Lawrence said.

“I arrived on Saturday morning to find the damage and have looked through the CCTV. The course suffered damage to seven of its 18 greens.”

He described the attack as ‘disheartening and stressful’ and added: “There’s always kids playing football on the first green.

“The course isn’t meant for that.

“Kids come along with studded trainers and damage the grass.

“Grass re-growth in the winter months will be the biggest issue in restoring the golf course to its previous condition

“The seeds won’t grow at low temperatures.

“It needs to be around 10 to 12 degrees for them to grow. It won’t be the same again until at least March or April next year.”

Mr Lawrence said the club hasn’t contacted police about the incident.

Instead, the club has taken to social media to raise awareness and appeal to anyone with information to come forward.

“We need your help to find the offenders and bring them to justice,” said a statement on the club’s Facebook page.

“Our greens have been subjected to sustained and mindless vandalism overnight – seven greens severely hacked with golf clubs.

“Extremely upsetting for our greenkeeper, members and visitors.

“Who would do this?

“What is the point of it?

“This is criminal damage. We need your help to find the offenders and bring them to justice.

“Have you heard anyone bragging about it?

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Relationships renewed at Glasgow Golf Club

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Relationships renewed at Glasgow Golf Club: Founded as a members club in 1787, Glasgow Golf Club is proud of its heritage as the ninth oldest golf club in the world. The club jointly operates its heritage parkland course at Killermont on the outskirts of the city and its championship Gailes Links Course on the Firth of Clyde at Irvine in Ayrshire.

Between them, course managers Brian Dickson at Glasgow Gailes and Stuart Taylor at Killermont have nearly 70 years of experience leading their respective greenkeeping teams. They have recently re-established their working relationship with local John Deere dealer Nairn Brown Ltd of Busby by investing in a John Deere Financial deal for new course maintenance equipment worth more than £1 million in total, spread over five years.

Relationships renewed at Glasgow Golf Club

The finance package, a mix of mostly contract hire plus some finance lease, includes John Deere’s PowerGard Maintenance and Protection Plus service and repair plans, which provide comprehensive, budgeted cover for the full five-year period.

A total of 19 John Deere machines plus a Tru-Turf greens roller were initially delivered this summer, with the greater number going into Glasgow Gailes. These include E-Cut hybrid electric triplex greens mowers plus PrecisionCut walk-behind greens mowers and fairway mowers, tees & surrounds and TerrainCut rotary rough mowers, two ProGator utility vehicles equipped with amenity turf sprayers (one featuring a Rogers covered spray boom), XUV Gators and 4R Series compact tractors.

“We’re constantly arranging demonstrations of various manufacturers’ machines to see what’s available on the market and keep up with the latest technology,” says Stuart Taylor. “John Deere has made a lot of changes and adaptations in recent years to make jobs more efficient, such as the A Model mowers’ TechControl display, rear roller power brushes on the reels and different size cutting heads to suit ground conditions and undulations better.

“The 2653B utility triplex mower, which we use with 30in heads for cutting round bunker edges in particular, has had some big changes to make it easier to operate, including the SpeedLink quick adjust cutting units for really fast height of cut changes. The quality of cut is very consistent and the mowers hold their cut without needing to make lots of adjustments.

“Greasing the mowers with groomers fitted used to be quite awkward, but John Deere has made the machines easier to service now. The sprayer is also easier to attach and detach as well as to operate, using the automatic rate controller.

Relationships renewed at Glasgow Golf Club

“As the customer we need to look at the bottom line very closely, and we found the John Deere Financial package very straightforward as well as competitive. It provided an excellent paper trail, and everything was laid out clearly with nothing hidden away – this made a big difference. John Deere may not make everything we need, but we’ve been able to mix and match and get the best deal for the club.

“We already knew Nairn Brown is first class at providing prompt service and repairs when necessary, and John Deere’s overnight parts delivery is second to none. When you’re dealing with a big contract like this one, it’s also important to build the right relationship – you need to be flexible, accommodating and to work together. Build in the right machines and backup service, and the whole package just looked to be the best and most attractive option.”

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