4 Ways You Can Make Your Golf Club More Sustainable

With sustainability becoming an increasing focus in our everyday lives, there has similarly been a shift within the golfing community to focus on and implement ways to make golf clubs, courses and tees more sustainable. It can seem overwhelming to switch to eco-friendly, sustainable alternatives - especially as a business - however, making small changes and steps toward the end goal will make it that bit more achievable. Below are 4 simple changes you can make to make your golf club more sustainable.

1. Use Sustainable Golf Tees and Accessories

5 billion plastic tees are estimated to be used and discarded every year in the golfing industry. An easy switch to help combat this problem would be to ban the use of plastic tees on your golf course and have a sustainable alternative easily available to use or buy instead. This is where The Bigger Ball have you covered! Our bamboo golf tees come in 8 different sizes and colours for every type of shot and can be purchased in packs of 20, 40 and 80 (save £5 with our 80-pack!). If you don’t have access to bamboo golf tees, however, wooden tees are your next best option. 

Plastic golf tees aren’t the only item causing havoc on the environment, but also other unsustainable golf accessories too. Stocking sustainable golfing accessories for your customers and players to either borrow or buy is a great way to encourage their use of them. We have Bamboo Microfibre Golf Towels and Organic Cotton Accessories Bags as just a couple examples of our sustainable golf accessory alternatives as options for players of all levels to use on their next trip to the course.

2. Use and Provide Energy Efficient Equipment

Switching your golf carts, mowers and other maintenance equipment from petrol to electric alternatives is a crucial step in contributing less harmful emissions into the atmosphere and in shifting towards a more sustainable golf club. Travelling the course by foot is, of course, the easiest way to reduce emissions. Providing easily accessible caddies for your customers could help encourage them to walk instead of using the golf carts, however, providing the electric golf cart option is a great idea too. 

Running on Solar Power energy is also a simple switch to make, especially If you live in a warmer, sunnier climate. We recommend installing solar panels as this is an easily accessible addition that will benefit your business in the long run. For advice on equipment for communication if signal can be an issue for your team, ensure to speak with companies who can advise on sustainability of radio equipment.

3. Avoid Toxic Pesticides and Fertilisers on Your Course

The use of lawn care products like pesticides and fertilisers to maintain your course green and landscape is essential, however, the conventional options are chemical-ridden, affecting the natural wildlife, and native plants. The chemicals also run off into local bodies of water. 

We recommend switching to eco-friendly alternatives that do the same job. Reaching out to local golf courses that are already running sustainable practices for advice could make it easier to know what options are out there.

Although this will not be maintaining your course landscape by any means, we have our CLEAN STRIKE Sustainable Golf Cleaner as a sustainable cleaning option for golf tees and accessories, which helps to remove the use of cleaning products with harsh chemicals.

4. Banning Single-Use Plastic From Golf Club Courses

Banning single-use plastic from golf clubs isn’t a new practice by any means, with a collective of clubs implementing this practice already. This will really help in eliminating unnecessary rubbish production from your club. Encourage players to bring reusable water bottles and provide them as an option to purchase if they turn up without. 

Switch any single-use plastic items like food packaging, gift bags etc to paper or reusable options and find a way for the waste and plastic you do have to be recycled efficiently. Banning plastic tees and stocking sustainable golf tees accessories as mentioned above will also make this switch easier to implement. 

What Are The Benefits Of Making Your Golf Club More Sustainable

There is an abundance of benefits that can come with implementing sustainable practices in your Golf Club, both from a business perspective and an environmental one. 

• By eliminating the use of harmful fertilisers, pesticides and other chemicals you will assist in preserving water resources and keeping them clean. 

• Your Golf Club will have a unique selling point, elevating the course brand and reputation. 

• You will attract a like-minded community of golfers with new customers, members and employees that prioritise doing business with environmentally friendly and socially responsible businesses. This will help sustain a loyal customer base and surround you with forward-thinking people. 

•  Through energy-efficient practices, you will be conserving energy and reducing your emissions which is both a positive contribution towards climate change and will also possibly reveal real cost savings.