02 Jun 2022
Ljunghusen Golf Club achieves GEO Certified for a record fifth time
Ljunghusen Golf Club in Sweden has become the first club in the world to achieve GEO Certified for a fifth time.
Sweden, host of World Environment Day 2022, has around 460 Golf Courses and 550,000 registered golfers in a population of around 10 million people.
The course is located in a nature reserve, so environmental work is an everyday part of its activity. Ljunghusen was the first golf facility in the world to be GEO Certified, and it now also has the distinction of being the only five-time GEO Certified golf course.
“Since the early 1990s we’ve looked into different environmental programs,” said Club Manager Stig Persson. “When we heard about GEO Foundation, we saw it natural to become GEO Certified.
“We see it as a possibility to engage our staff and members to appreciate a good environmental program as well as be able to promote how golf courses can have a positive impact on the environment.
“We’ve seen it as an asset to work with nature and not against it. For instance, we have for many years been very careful with using too much fertilizer and chemicals and not overwatering the course. So all maintenance is done to keep the heathland and links character.”
Kerstin Antonsson, Independent Verifier at GEO Certification Ltd, said: “Ljunghusen Golf Club is a well-managed golf course in spectacular ecological surroundings of heathland habitat and the Baltic Sea. The club has a long experience of environmental and natural improvements and is probably facing one of the most demanding sustainability challenges with climate change and expected raised sea levels in the future.
“I look forward to seeing the long-term planning for action in the new masterplan document and its sustainability contributions. The continuation of work with extended modern irrigation for the holes 19 – 27 and the improved safety of a new solution for the driving range will, I’m sure, be a great success.”
The club has maintained its distinction and the great environmental interest has initiated several inventories of flora and fauna. There are approximately 90 bird species and 377 different plant species around the course.
The club uses Toro maintenance machinery and has a plan to switch to electric equipment in the future. The greens, tees and fairways have fully automated irrigation with valve-in-head sprinklers. Since it’s a heath and links course, the course manager is eager to maintain its low fertilizer and water use. In Sweden, chemicals are restricted on golf courses and any use must be approved by the local government every year.
On the shores of the Baltic Sea, golf has been played at Ljunghusen Golf Club since 1932. The course was expanded to 18-holes in 1957, and in June 1965, a further expansion resulted in the first 27-hole course in the Nordic region being inaugurated. As a 27-hole club, Ljungusen has hosted many national, international and European championships, as well as two European Tour events.
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