Champion of the Green April 2015

BGL Golf is our April Champion of the Green as it continues to show outstanding commitment to the longevity of its operations and is an industry leader in sustainable business management.

In late 2014 BGL Golf became the first management group in the world to have all of its facilities GEO Certified®, demonstrating its leadership in sustainable golf and its operational commitment to the three core principles of sustainability – planet, people and profit.

Howard Craft (pictured), General Manager Ramsdale Park Golf Centre, has played an important role in instigating the sustainability work across the group in order to achieve this target.

He explains: “Using OnCourse® to become GEO Certified® brought a great many benefits to each of our venues and our overall business. OnCourse® was easy to use, and being custom built for golf it was very relevant and productive to our real-world work. We were quickly able to assess our position, identify where and how we could improve and then widely share our sustainability efforts. OnCourse® also brought our teams together and provides a permanent, consistent and valuable record of ongoing progress across the group.”

With the introduction of innovative resource efficient solutions, BGL Golf is stepping forward and demonstrating the positive impacts of sustainable practices on both the environment and business profit. These initiatives include a state of the art self-sufficient irrigation water holding reservoir at Birchwood Park Golf Centre, Wilmington. The 11,000m3 reservoir, which opened in 2014, is supplied by rainwater harvesting; taking water runoff from the maintenance yard and car park, with future plans to include water run off from the clubhouse roof. Along with water reduction measures in the clubhouse, including awareness and low flow systems, Birchwoood Park exemplifies BLG Golf’s commitment to resource efficiency and sustainable business management.

BGL’s 10 venues went through the OnCourse® and become GEO Certified® between 2012-2014. For further information you can read their OnCourse® reports here:

Abbey Hill Golf Centre
Aldwickbury Park Golf Club
Birchwood Park Golf Centre
Burhill Golf Club
Hoebridge Golf Centre
Ramsdale Park Golf Centre
Redbourn Golf Club
The Shropshire Golf Centre
Thornbury Golf Centre
Wycombe Heights Golf Centre

To read more on press releases about BGL’s sustainability commitments please visit www.golfenvironment.org/news