Conservation & Ecology
The 11th on the Avening - a strong environmental effort will provide a unique selling point for any golf club
Member satisfaction surveys are really important and actually take less time than you might suppose. By conducting them regularly, it is possible to map various trends and measure the changes that your actions may take. This allows management to be more selective and effective. If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it. I’ve digressed a little. Forming a workable environmental policy can, indeed, be a big and scary prospect. I would go so far as to say that it is perhaps not something that the Course Manager should take on single-handed. This is not a cop-out - in a simple business sense a manager does not have to be an expert on everything, but needs to know enough across a broad range to guide the various policies and be what might be termed as a ‘Broker of Good Ideas’. He must be able to interpret what is going on in the industry, discern what is likely to be good for his business, and be capable of negotiating budgets and setting outcomes.
The first step is to audit what you’ve got - and form a plan. Well, two plans preferably; one of them with big capital type projects, such as a new lake, a composting facility, solar panels for energy generation, and so on. The second plan will have much smaller projects requiring mostly
planning and action without layouts of capital. For example, reptile hibernaculas, small wildlife ponds, wildflower areas, log stacks, habitat works etc. Try and tie things in together so, whilst
it is great to build a reptile hibernacula, siting it close to log stacks, nearby to a wildlife pond and some planting is fantastic.
Look for funding. DEFRA will support various initiatives, there is EU funding, whilst local councils will also support certain projects. In the case of golf, the R&A will support ranges of projects which meet their criteria and have the potential to become self-funding Therefore, you can make a start on
projects which don’t really cost much but do deliver value, whilst planning and budgeting ahead to finance much larger projects.
A goodly list of small projects allows you the breathing space and budget to sustain progress on a number of fronts. I like to sustain progress because it is very easy to put new initiatives in place, but keeping them going over a significant length of time, often in trying circumstances, can be very difficult. In conclusion:
- Plan ahead
- Use quantifiable figures wherever possible to sell your ideas to your
Be proud of what you achieve, no matter how small it may seem
employer and members
- Point to the longer term benefits of environmental work - generally, nothing will happen overnight
- Communicate your ideas and their progress to your members on a regular basis. Blogs, notices, displays and illustrated talks will all help
- Get out and about locally, and use your environmental efforts and vision as a marketing tool for the club
- Show leadership in this area - others will cleave to you
- Include all your staff - the sheer positivity which attaches to environmental project work inspires everyone to feel an important part of the overall operation
- Enlist some help and support - if there isn’t anyone on the staff who can take this on board, then look into the membership and find someone who you can talk to, and share ideas
And, above all, be proud of what you achieve.
Paul Worster is a career greenkeeper with two sons also in the industry. He is a Past Chairman of BIGGA, currently Education Officer for the South West Section of BIGGA, chairs the BIGGA Sustainability Advisory Panel, and is a Board member of FEGGA.
OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2013 PC 117
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