Sustainable Golf Tournament Standard Consultation Launched
A public consultation period has opened on a new voluntary sustainability standard for golf tournaments, with industry leaders calling for input into the creation of sustainable best practices for golf tournaments around the world.“We’re excited to be launching the public consultation on criteria for a Sustainable Golf Tournament Standard” said Eric Duea, Tournament Programme Manager at GEO (Golf Environment Organization), the not-for-profit group leading the industry collaboration behind this new standard. “Including the participation of various experts and industry leaders is an important stage in the development of a practical industry standard. Strong industry standards are formed when a diversity of viewpoints are incorporated, and I am looking forward to seeing what we learn over the next 60 days.”With growing awareness among both consumers and organizers of the impact which major events, including golf tournaments, can have across social, economic and environmental factors the golf industry is making proactive efforts to minimise impacts and maximize the positive value of tournaments.“Since the London 2012 Olympic Games sustainability has been firmly on the agenda of large events across the globe” said Mervyn Jones, Director at SGR Ltd, a sustainability and resource efficiency consultancy, and member of the Expert Working Group for the Sustainable Golf Tournament Standard, a group of ten experts from the golfing, sustainability, event and academic worlds who, facilitated by GEO, are developing the standard. “Golf is no exception to this growing action amongst events, with sustainability programmes such as the European Tour’s GreenDrive and The Open’s GreenLinks programmes gaining impact and momentum each year. The aim of this standard is to define meaningful and practical criteria to assist golf tournaments, large and small, to maximise their positive social and environmental value.”Read the full press release here.