The inaugural ‘The Sustainable Future of Golf’ conference, organised by England Golf in conjunction with The Transformation Tour, took place on 10th September 2024 at the National Golf Centre, Woodhall Spa. We talk to Owen James, Sustainability Manager, at England Golf about the event.
What was the thinking behind the event?
Over recent years, sustainability has become more of an important topic in our everyday lives, yet many in golf are not yet considering how our sport can become more sustainable. From my work as England Golf Sustainability Manager, I’m obviously aware of a number of individuals and companies, who are working to help golf transition to a more sustainable footing. We wanted to bring these forces for good together, to share insights, to discuss how we work together and what we need to do to continuing moving forward.
Were there specific sustainability topics that you wanted to cover?
We decided to focus on 4 key topics:
1. Beginning with Biodiversity
What is golf doing to be better for Nature, and how can we increase this to prevent further land-use pressures
2. Winning with Water
Arguably the biggest issue in golf, where, and how, are we going to source water from for irrigation in the future?
3. Golf: Everyone’s Game
How are we making golf more accessible, and what barriers do we need to break down to accelerate this?
4. Innovation in the Game
How is tech going to help our cause?
Which speakers did you invite to talk about the sustainable golf topics?
We were keen to encourage discussion and debate, and decided that the best way to achieve this was by creating a panel for each topic area. Although we had experts from within the golf industry such as Petra Himmel from
Golf Sustainable and Alan Grant from the
GEO Foundation for Sustainable Golf, we were also keen to invite experts from outside the sector.
Biodiversity panel
- Petra Himmel (Lead)
- Daniel Lightfoot, Director of Sustainable Golf at the R&A
- Marie Athorn, Business Conservation Advisor (R&A) at RSPB
- David Bell, Principal Adviser: Health and the Environment, Natural England
- Greener golf group.
Water panel
- Owen James (Lead)
- Mike Gray, Wholesale Operations Specialist, Castle Water
- Phil Williams, Environment Protection Group
- Professor Jacob Tompkins, OBE, Waterwise
- Giulia Ferroni, Golf Course Architect, Leeds Course Design
Inclusivity panel
- Alan Grant (Lead)
- Callum Cooke, Founder, Kondor Kidz
- Alyson McKechin , Head of Golf, Golf It! Glasgow!
- Lauren Spray, Women and Girls Manager, England Golf
- Katie Dawkins, Fling Golf
Innovation panel
- Dr Mark Broomfield, Cambridge University
- Phil Grice, Head of Venues, Custodian Golf
- Adam Keeble, Co-founder, Gather
- Oli Spencer, Global Marketing Director, Reflo
Were there any take-aways from the panel discussions?
In terms of Biodiversity, then we recognised that we need to work more closely with other expert organisations, such as Natural England and the RSPB. These organisations are ideally positioned to provide expert advice and guidance.
Regarding Water, then it's clear that we need to reduce our consumption , whilst implementing water harvesting solutions. In terms of pesticides, then we need to develop multi-year agronomy plans that help us become more resilient.
Finally, in terms of Innovation, then as the day proved, collaboration not only across golf but also with expert organisations, is a vital element to our sustainability journey.
Are there any next steps following the conference?
It was an incredibly useful day, and we’ve had lots of great feedback, so we will definitely be planning future sustainability events. In the meantime, we are looking to establish a series of regional working groups, to bring together interested parties to work together on specific sustainability initiatives – so watch this space!
