10 Feb 2022
What are Sustainable Golf Highlights? And 7 reasons to share yours
Sustainable Golf Highlights are short success stories shared by people from all over the world.
They’re individual snapshots of the great work in fostering nature, conserving resources, taking climate action and strengthening communities at all types of golf courses and tournaments.
Anyone who works at a course or tournament can share one via the Sustainable Golf Highlights Hub to showcase their practices and Speak Up #ForSustainableGolf.
Jamie Graham, Communications Manager, GEO Foundation for Sustainable Golf, said: “It’s fantastic to see so many Sustainable Golf Highlights shared by courses and tournaments. They’re a great way for people in the sport to get wider recognition for their contribution. The Highlights Hub is growing all the time with real-world examples, and it’s really inspiring to see.”
It’s important to help showcase what golf is doing when it comes to delivering a better future for the sport, people and the planet, and there are also many other fantastic reasons to get involved:
7 great reasons to share your sustainable golf success stories
1. Recognition for you and your team
As a golf club or course manager, you may feel that you don’t get the recognition you and your team deserve. Taking the time to share your Sustainable Golf Highlights can give you more exposure:
We’re here to help celebrate your successes throughout the sustainable golf community.
2. Share ideas with your peers and the global community
The Sustainable Golf Highlights Hub already has over 1,200 great examples of sustainable golf in action and it’s growing every day. These stories attract interest from greenkeepers, superintendents, club managers, golfers, and even people and organizations outside the sport.
There’s a real opportunity for you to use the Hub to learn from your peers and get proven ideas for your course, wherever you are in the world. And in turn, others can be inspired by the work you’re doing.
If, for example, you Do One Thing #ForSustainableGolf and it saves you a lot of time and money, sharing could inspire someone else to do the same and reap the rewards.
3. Let golfers see the great work you’re doing
Many sustainable golf practices can go unnoticed in and around the course. Sharing your Sustainable Golf Highlights online allows you to showcase your work on the club website or e-newsletter.
This helps educate golfers and committee members on the importance of your work. Anyone at the club can access this too, so it could, for example, form part of a promotional pack or campaign to attract new members to your course.
4. Inspire golfers and others to get involved
Many of the courses that use the OnCourse programme recruit volunteers and partner with local community groups to carry out vital work around the course. These activities can range from helping to repair pitch marks and divots to documenting wildlife, flora and fauna in unmown areas. The more people see the positive stories, the more likely they will get involved and play their part.
Golfbaan Het Woold, the Netherlands
5. Put your course on the Sustainable Golf Map
In the new Sustainable Golf Directory, each club that’s using OnCourse has a dedicated webpage. This displays all their Sustainable Golf Highlights, making it easy to send to golfers, other greenkeepers/superintendents, suppliers and other interested parties such as schools and community groups. It’s also a handy record to have for your career and performance reviews.
6. Help show golf in a more positive light
There’s no doubt that golf is often judged unfairly – particularly by people outside the sport looking in, with preconceived ideas. Whether it’s concerns about water and fertilizer usage or the CO2 emissions of machinery, this is something the Sustainable Golf Community is proud to be helping to turn around.
Golf is making good strides across the sustainability agenda, but sustainable golf isn’t a destination. There are always further improvements to consider on a journey. And you can play an essential role in showing people that golf is taking these steps and its responsibilities seriously.
7. Attract new team members
Sustainability is an increasingly important consideration for people choosing industries and places to work. Having a modern approach to sustainable golf and many examples could help you attract good talent as climate issues become more urgent in the next decade and beyond.
Sharing your Sustainable Golf Highlights now and making it a regular practice makes perfect sense for so many reasons.
Whether you’ve not shared a Highlight for a while or have never done it, get inspired now by browsing the Sustainable Golf Highlights Hub and joining OnCourse for free (if you haven’t already), where you can find proven ideas and so much more.
