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 Presented by GCSAA and Golf Digest in partnership with Syngenta Professional Products and Rain Bird Corp., Golf Division, the Environmental Leaders in Golf Awards recognize golf course superintendents and golf courses around the world for their commitment to environmental stewardship.
Award selection will be handled by an independent panel of judges equally representing major national environmental groups as well as the golf industry. Previous judging panels have included pesticide and irrigation specialists, independent agronomists and/or turfgrass consultants and representatives of independent environmental groups.
Applications will be evaluated in the five categories identified in the application: Resource Conservation, Water Quality Management, Integrated Pest Management, Wildlife/Habitat Management and Education/Outreach.
Criteria for responding to each category:
- Sustainability: The key concept in environmental leadership is the intelligent management of valuable resources so the rate of the use matches the renewal. Simply putting up bird boxes or feeding stations lacks the sustainable quality of designing, building and managing a complete habitat that provides year-round food, cover and water.
- Criticality: Does the facility actually improve the surrounding environment/ecosystem in a substantial and fundamental way that another use of the land, or in fact no use of the land, wouldn't? What of the use of natural resources, conservation of water and fossil fuel? Is it significant? Water conservation in areas of abundant water is less laudable than in arid areas, for example.
- Originality: Has the facility come up with new methods or discovered new problems (and subsequently resolved them in new ways)? Originality or creative thought inspires others, broadens our perspectives and adds opportunity for innovation.
- Technology use/implementation: Explain the role and value of technology in day-to-day operations as applicable to environmental stewardship.
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