Golf Management Australia Winter 2017 | Page 11

ENVIRONMENT BECOMING KEY IN THE NATION OF GOLF Fife, in Scotland, has become the first local authority to have all of its council owned golf courses gain certification from the Golf Environment Organisation (GEO). A registered charity, Fife Golf Trust (FGT) manages and operates the seven public courses. To gain the certification the Trust has created habitat by bringing in rough management and creating ponds, naturalised its watercourses and drainage works and invited in schoolchildren form the local area to help plat wildflower meadows for pollinators. Steve Isaac, director of Sustainability at The R&A said, “Our congratulations to Fife Golf Trust in achieving GEO Certified® for all seven of the courses it is responsible for, setting a wonderful example that we hope many others will follow. Using OnCourse® to provide the evidence for certification also delivers a platform to turn sustainability theory into practice, making a positive difference to course condition and profitability.” For information on the environmental and financial benefits of becoming GEO Certified®, visit the Future of Golf website. Why is sustainability important to golf, why do we need to consider the future? Why is golf seen by many as a negative use of land? Why don’t we talk more about our value to nature and communities, and why should we? Explore what golfs positives and negatives are and why we should all take action to safeguard our future. How can we find out where we are and where we want to get to? How do we share our positive impacts and gain credible recognition for our actions? Discover golfs sustainability programme and internationally acclaimed eco-labels. What does sustainable golf look like? what are the benefits, the opportunities and challenges? What are others doing? Discuss the practicalities and read through some real results and practical examples of sustainable golf in action. WWW.GMA.ORG.AU I 11