The results of the seventeenth John Collier Annual Survey on environmental compliance, social responsibility and good governance (ESG) for South Africa golf courses have been released and the tale of the tape shows Elements Private Golf Reserve as the winner of this year’s top award, with Umhlali Country Club and Olivewood Private Estate receiving honourable mentions.
As World environment day (5th June) and the announcement of the John Collier Survey’s annual awards, approaches, BG took the chance to ask Alistair Collier (AC), who is the founder and author of the survey, what he felt could be seen as the main takeaways this year.
So, the dust has settled on this version (2023 to 2024) of the John Collier Survey, at least in terms of the putting together, publishing and circulating the digital version of the survey.
However, it would be fair to say that the contents of the survey have, or should have, raised a dust storm or two of their own! These dust devils would be in various areas, but principally in terms of static, or even slowing levels of compliance. They would also be a factor in relation to matters that encompass our responsibilities, as a golf community, to run our affairs at every level, from clubs to associations, as transparently and ethically as possible.
In the last issue we asked Alistair Collier, how one could help to ensure stability and create an environment, in which the normal functioning of the club, and the work of its office bearers, is not disturbed or usurped, by self-serving individuals or cliques?
Some time ago I wrote a piece, wherein the GM I was interviewing felt that as far as sustainability was concerned, if he could get his facility through to month end, without going insolvent, then that was about all the sustainability that he could cope with. Naturally, the underlying theme to his monthly grind, was keeping a tight rein on his expenditure.
How important is a course’s
conditioning, in terms of its playability,
within the context of the JC Survey?
When the John Collier Survey started researching environmental compliance and good governance some 20 years ago, we assumed that the best source for information would be the clubs’ greenkeepers and superintendents. At that time, the participation rate was 9.6 % of clubs in South Africa, and there was a compliance level of 30%.
Dear Club Manager, Director of Golf, Course Superintendent: Why not, on Tuesday 12th September, together with organisations such as the PGA, the British & International Golf Greenkeepers Association (BIGGA), the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA), the Australian Sports Turf Managers Association (ASTMA), the Canadian Golf Superintendents Association (CGSA) and the Federation of European Golf Greenkeepers Associations (FEGGA) along with the several chapters of the South African Turfgrass association (TGMASA), participate in the international “Thank A Greenkeeper Day”? It is an opportune moment, to help remind us that without our greenkeepers, there simply is no golf, and it comes at the start of the spring season in the Southern Hemisphere.
This Annual Survey provides an essential tool for chairpersons, management committees and club management of golf courses, as well as industry representative bodies, as it constitutes a benchmark for all golf clubs and associations, from which to measure themselves against latest trends, and reference recent international research into the topic of sport environmental sustainability, which is becoming an important dimension of the global sport academy. In summary, the Annual Survey takes a closer look at the findings regarding environmental compliance, in the light of international research into sport environmental sustainability.
This Annual Survey provides an essential tool for chairpersons, management committees and club management of golf courses, as well as industry representative bodies, as it constitutes a benchmark for all golf clubs and associations, from which to measure themselves against latest trends, and reference recent international research into the topic of sport environmental sustainability, which is becoming an important dimension of the global sport academy. In summary, the Annual Survey takes a closer look at the findings regarding environmental compliance, in the light of international research into sport environmental sustainability.
