This Week in Green Golf

Bird-B-Gone Mist, the latest ground-breaking product offered by Bird-B-Gone Inc., has been named one of Buildings Magazines’ TOP 100 Products of 2009! Products were chosen based on their “innovation, functionality, efficiency, and environmental friendliness”. I like the Bird B Gone products because they have a focus on deterring the birds, and do not aim to hurt the birds, although I've got to say I've never been a fan of spikes.



In Cambodia, Turtle Stew is considered a delicacy. But when poachers are collecting thousands of endangered turtles someone has to step in and provide a sanctuary. In this case, it's a golf course. From the article:

"The Angkor Golf Resort and the Jay Pritzker Academy are working with the Angkor Centre for the Conservation of Biodiversity to provide safe havens for critically endangered turtles that have been confiscated during government raids from markets where the animals were being sold by the kilo to turn into stew.

Turtles are considered a delicacy by Cambodians, and the demand for their meat is high enough to support an illegal trade, pushing many species toward extinction. While police can confiscate turtles from poachers, the more difficult task is finding a safe area to release them.

Jim Gubricky, golf course superintendent at the Angkor Golf Resort, said the resort started fostering turtles about 18 months ago. "The wife of a guy who used to work here saw a bunch of turtles being sold in the market. She bought them all - probably about 50 or 60 - brought them to the course and released them."



Now I'm sure this won't come as a surprise to superintendents, but it's always nice to see it in the news: "Environmentally Friendly Golf Course Project Cleans Storm Runoff".

We've all seen the sludgie water come in to our urban golf courses and watch how that is filtered and transformed into a clear life giving substance that many take for granted, but lets face it, our golf courses are not recognised as fulfilling this function. This stigma can change thanks to articles like this. Side note: I googled this golf course and 6 articles about this project came up, very well done. From the article:

"The private course in northeastern New Hanover County (Eagle Point GC) on Tuesday opened its gates as part of a push to help treat storm water before it flows into Little Creek and eventually the Intracoastal Waterway.

More than 60 volunteers, including some teen-agers from the Community Boys and Girls Club of Wilmington, spent Tuesday morning getting their hands dirty planting nearly 5,000 plants."

GCM is one of my favorite golf industry news sources, here's a couple of recent items that were of interest to me.

A 2010 Ryder Cup Update, From the article:

"Europe's Ryder Cup Captain Colin Montgomerie is lending his support to the initiative: "I am delighted that The 2010 Ryder Cup is pioneering sustainability in sport events. To know that important social and environmental issues are being addressed across all aspects of the event adds even more to the already huge sense of pride I have in captaining the European Team.

"Come event time, we are going to witness some inspirational sporting drama, within a stunning environment, and with a legacy of improved understanding and practical action in Wales and across the game of golf."

The action plan cuts across four core areas:

The Venue: Further developing the Celtic Manor Resort's existing environmental management program, through which the resort hotel and clubhouses have already achieved level three of the Welsh Green Dragon Awards for sustainable businesses.
Event Staging: Establishing policy, promoting best practice guidance and collating baseline data for a wide range of issues such as energy, transport, catering, waste and temporary structures. This part of the action plan aims to ensure outreach through procurement, extending the initiative as far as possible out into supply chains.
Communications: Preceding and during the event, undertaking a wide range of media communication activities to make the most of the unique opportunity to raise public awareness and demonstrate leadership in this field.
Legacy: Ensuring that Ryder Cup achievements have a multiplier effect across golf and the environment in Wales and internationally, including setting in motion a movement towards the greening of all golf events and the provision of a detailed Sustainable Golf Events Toolkit to aid delivery."

More from GCM

"American Golf Corp., in an effort to conserve thousands of gallons of water on southern California courses, is retrofitting sprinklers with efficient metal nozzles. The company is working with the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which offers rebates to courses that switch to FCI Profile metal nozzles from plastic nozzles. The FCI Profile nozzles feature stainless steel orifices to increase distribution uniformity and save water, the company says. The nozzles are manufactured by Underhill International. American Golf manages more than 110 private, resort and daily fee courses in the U.S. Contact Underhill International, 866-863-3744 (www.underhill.us)."