GEO offers entry to OnCourse free of charge

The GEO Foundation for Sustainable Golf, based in England, has expanded its range of golf facilities. Unlike before, the first stage of the OnCourse program is now free of charge and can be used by any golf course after a simple registration.

With the online program OnCourse, the GEO Foundation, Europe’s largest certifier in the golf sector, offers the possibility of clear data collection for the entire operation of the golf course. For example, all values for the use of water, fuel or fertilizers can be entered here, broken down by year. Machines and personnel are also recorded. The same applies to land use, specially designated areas for environmental protection and nature conservation. The individual user can save the data and access or revise it again and again.

The evaluation of the data in the form of a report is not free of charge. For this, which also includes a report on the CO2 emissions of the system, 350 euros are estimated. The three-year package of reports costs 875 euros. A classic certification, such as that offered in Germany by the German Golf Association’s ” Golf & Nature” program, is then possible at a further level, which also incurs costs. The rate for visiting a GEO certifier on site starts at 850 euros per day.

Regardless of any certification, the free use of the online tool from GEO Foundation can make sense above all for golf courses that do not yet have an overview of areas, resource consumption or materials and want to familiarize themselves with the topic of sustainable work first. The concrete list of possible measures or data aspects gives an initial indication of how your own golf course is currently set up.

Library with best practice examples

This also means that the “society” item is listed as one of three pillars in the area of sustainability. This affects the external impact of the club in the context of tournaments, events with communities, schools or other associations or, for example, the support of charity projects or environmental campaigns.

After registering, you can also find one or the other good tip in the extensive library with best practice examples from all over the world. This ranges from examples of water consumption to ideas for avoiding plastic or bird protection.

“Our job is to make our program as open and accessible as possible for everyone,” explains Roddy Williams, Director for Professional Golf Engagement and Communications at GEO . “It’s simply important to us to get as many people and systems on board as possible for the whole issue in order to generally push the issue further.”