A sustainable golf snapshot from the Dow GLBI

21 Jul 2021

A sustainable golf snapshot from the Dow GLBI

The Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational made history in 2019 by becoming the first LPGA event to be GEO Certified, and the first professional tournament to be certified in its inaugural year. 

While the event wasn’t played in 2020, it returned this year with an even stronger commitment to sustainability, right across the tournament and beyond. 

Below are just some of the highlights from the popular women’s team event held at Midland Country Club, Michigan, which cover fostering nature, conserving resources, taking climate action and strengthening communities.

Sustainability through golf

The tournament kicked off with the exciting announcement that Dow recently teamed up with the LPGA and LET as the Official Sustainability Resource extending their commitment to advance environmental stewardship and inclusion through golf. The trio will work closely with GEO Foundation for Sustainable Golf to help develop strategy and deliver support and solutions for effective and impactful delivery.

Throughout the week a variety of activities took place to help spread sustainability more widely. The SOAR Inclusion and Leadership conference, sponsored by Rocket Mortgage, was held to create a space to talk about diversity, equity and inclusion, and to consider concrete actions. With attendees ranging from LPGA rising star and DOW ambassador María Fassi, to Detroit’s Boys and Girls Clubs and the Midnight Golf youth mentoring program, to CEOs and the Michigan State Governor - the event was fun, educational and inspirational.

The Sustainability Summit was another above-and-beyond event hosted around the tournament. Sponsored by Workday, the summit invited local business, government and community leaders to discuss environmental and social responsibility in the region. Dow Ambassador and Sustainable Golf Champion, Suzann Pettersen was among the speakers. 

 

The GLBI team also reached out to share their sustainability work with several neighboring tournament hosts, sponsors and businesses, hoping to get more tournaments involved with sustainability and certification.

Promoting a circular economy 

The Dow GLBI sustainability actions stood out on the course as well as off. As part of the event’s five-year sustainability strategy, mesh fencing that wrapped the grandstands in 2019 was recycled into 20,000 golf tees in collaboration with KW Recycling. By extending the useful life of plastics rather than disposing of them, waste is kept out of the local environment, and resource efficiency is improved. 

“This is a prime example of how the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational is teeing up inventive ways to stage and host a tournament that minimizes waste and save resources,” said Dow GLBI executive director Chris Chandler. “Our vision has been to host a tournament that benefits and engages the Great Lakes Bay Region locally and helps set a benchmark in sustainability for other golf tournaments and their commercial partners on the LPGA Tour.”

Recycling story.
Segregated recycling.
Refillable water station.
Recycling story.
Segregated recycling.
Refillable water station.

Protecting the environment 

Spectators were encouraged to carpool or cycle to reduce the carbon footprint and promote exercise, including dedicated bike parking at the entrance to the club.

When it came to enjoying the on-course action, walking paths were routed to ensure that no native plants were affected by the tournament footfall. 

Making a lasting impact on local non-profits

The tournament also has a strong commitment to strengthening communities. A total of 36 local non-profits were selected based on their organization’s impact on STEM, Sustainability, Inclusion, and/or Innovation.

Each of the chosen non-profits was paired with two of the 72 LPGA teams. Each LPGA team was worth $2,250 – guaranteeing a fantastic sum of $4,500 for each non-profit. A total pool of $237,500 will be donated through this program in 2021, which takes on even more significance given the impact of the pandemic. 

"In its second year, the Dow GLBI has made another significant and positive impact", observed GEO Foundation Executive Director Kelli Jerome. "This is an excellent example of how to stage an accessible and sustainable golf tournament – and to help build a community of others who want to play their part as well."

 

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