Most Sustainable Golf Event nominations announced

Corporate Social Responsibility consultancy Between-us has announced its three nominations for the Most Sustainable Golf Event

International CSR consultancy Between-us has released the three nominations for the Most Sustainable Golf Event, with the results revealed at KPMG's Golf Business Forum in Tuscany on September 18.

The benchmark - inaugurated last year - measures the perceived sustainability of golf tournaments through the Sustainable Golf Index.

This year, the three nominees for most sustainable golf event are the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at St. Andrews, Kingsbarns and Carnoustie, the Senior Open de Portugal at Belas Clube de Campo and the KLM Open at the Hilversumsche Golf Club.

The Sustainable Golf Index allows tournaments and their sponsors to monitor their progress in sustainability and pinpoint ways to improve.

Jan van deer Kaaij, Managing Partner of Between-us, said: "There is a notable improvement in the sustainability of events, as demonstrated by the recent Olympics, but there is still a long way to go.

"The Sustainable Golf Index can help raise awareness among golf events and help them in developing a more sustainable approach."

A total of 82 from the European Tour, Ladies European Tour, Challenge Tour and Senior Tour were scored on three domains: People, Planet and Virtues, with each comprising seven indicators.

Last year the KLM Open topped the index with a score of 62.9% - well above the Open Championship and the Evian Masters.

Those high on this year's list generally showcased a number of sustainable initiatives, including waste management, fuel efficient vehicles and organic catering products.

In 2012, the average sustainability score was 24.8% - improving on 23.5% in 2011 - 18.3% of all events recycled their waste and 31.7% of all events donated money or resources to charity.

For more information, visit www.sustainablegolfproject.com.

Nick Bonfield
Features Editor

Nick Bonfield joined Golf Monthly in 2012 after graduating from Exeter University and earning an NCTJ-accredited journalism diploma from News Associates in Wimbledon. He is responsible for managing production of the magazine, sub-editing, writing, commissioning and coordinating all features across print and online. Most of his online work is opinion-based and typically centres around the Majors and significant events in the global golfing calendar. Nick has been an avid golf fan since the age of ten and became obsessed with the professional game after watching Mike Weir and Shaun Micheel win The Masters and PGA Championship respectively in 2003. In his time with Golf Monthly, he's interviewed the likes of Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose, Jose Maria Olazabal, Henrik Stenson, Padraig Harrington, Lee Westwood and Billy Horschel and has ghost-written columns for Westwood, Wayne Riley, Matthew Southgate, Chris Wood and Eddie Pepperell. Nick is a 12-handicap golfer and his favourite courses include Old Head, Sunningdale New, Penha Longha, Valderrama and Bearwood Lakes. If you have a feature pitch for Nick, please email nick.bonfield@futurenet.com with 'Pitch' in the subject line. Nick is currently playing: Driver: TaylorMade M1 Fairway wood: TaylorMade RBZ Stage 2 Hybrid: Ping Crossover Irons (4-9): Nike Vapor Speed Wedges: Cleveland CBX Full Face, 56˚, Titleist Vokey SM4, 60˚ Putter: testing in progress! Ball: TaylorMade TP5x