Sustainable Golf Week is here and what better time to reflect, celebrate and drive further sustainability within our much-loved sport. Sustainable Golf Week provides a time for people within golf to connect around a common purpose of making sure golf plays its part in a bid to strengthen the industry’s commitments within sustainability.
Here at Dundonald Links, sustainability is a constant focus across our facility. Being a Championship Golf Course where we host worldwide events such as the Scottish Open, the Trust Golf Women’s Scottish Open and Final Qualifying for The Open Championship, protecting our course is of the upmost importance.
Dundonald Links is proud to have been GEO certified three times. The certification means we have achieved the highest credited standard for a golf facility with regarding our environmental and social responsibility. Once you achieve GEO certification, it doesn’t stop there. The GEO certification must be renewed every few years and each time, improving your sustainability actions.
In 2012 we also achieved our ‘Zero Waste to Landfill’ goal and being one of the first courses in the UK to do so. This has become increasingly challenging as our resort has grown since adding luxury accommodation and a new clubhouse. However, we have worked hard to ensure we still kept sustainability front of mind throughout.
When building our new top of the range clubhouse, we were mindful during the build process of protecting and providing habitats. One example being our wonderful clubhouse, built using local whinstone sandstone and creating a grass roof, complete with a pollinator seed mix to provide a perfect environment for our bees and insects to live.
Preserving our wonderful links site is our primary aim and we work closely with the Scottish Wildlife Trust, which helps us protect and promote habitats of all wildlife. We’ve worked with the trust on projects such as the ‘Nectar Network’, which connects pollen-rich sites like ours. We also make honey from the bees that call Dundonald Links their home. We have also been planting vast amounts of indigenous wildflower to selected areas which helps preserve, protect and expand habitats of that area. The Skylark bird population has increased dramatically since our rough management scheme. This includes maintenance on rank grass and overgrown areas using all natural treatments.
Our vision is to continue improving the high standards of sustainability we have set ourselves, preserving and increasing the habitats throughout Dundonald Links so that all animals, insects, species and habitats remain in their natural home. This is key in ensuring the best possible future for our sport, and if we all work together, we can all make a difference.
