Singapore: Sentosa Golf Club has marked its award as the ‘World’s Best Eco-Friendly Golf Facility’ by premiering a new environmental documentary film to raise awareness of the importance of climate change in golf.

The documentary forms part of the club’s GAME ON campaign, which has received backing from The R&A following its launch at January’s SMBC Singapore Open.

Coinciding after it was named ‘World’s Best Eco-Friendly Golf Facility’ at the 2020 World Golf Awards this week, the film shows viewers some of the key measures already implemented at the club, such as the creation of bee colonies, the installation of reservoir-lakes and the banning of single-use plastics.

The club, which became the first golf club in the world to sign the UN’s Sports for Climate Action initiative in July, hopes the film will serve as inspiration to golf’s response to climate change, as well as help clubs around the world to understand the importance of reducing their carbon footprint by implementing initiatives for the betterment of the environment.

Sentosa is also planning a free environmental toolkit to further help golf clubs deal with the real threat of climate change.

With more than 61 million golfers and 39,000 golf courses worldwide, the club believes golf has the ability to become one of the leading industries to help reverse climate change and make a considerable impact.

The wider GAME ON campaign aims to educate and inspire the global golfing community to create a more socially conscious industry and consumer, who will be better prepared to introduce new modern practices for the betterment of the environment, as well as improving the quality of facilities on offer throughout the world. It is closely aligned with The R&A’s 2030 Golf Course initiative.

“This is a very special day. The unveiling of the GAME ON documentary marks the day golf’s major stakeholders and global community unite to fight climate change. Sentosa Golf Club is proud to be at the forefront of this campaign and hopes to create a legacy with golf’s leading organisations and community that will have a huge bearing on our future,” said Andrew Johnston, General Manager and Director of Agronomy at Sentosa Golf Club, a Facility Member of the Asian Golf Industry Federation.

On being awarded ‘World’s Best Eco-Friendly Golf Facility’, Johnston added: “It is a tremendous achievement for Sentosa to be recognised as the ‘World’s Best Eco-Friendly Facility’ and as ‘Singapore’s Best Golf Course’ for the third year running.

“Being awarded these accolades is down to the hard work that is put in by all our staff and members to maintain the high standards that are set by the club 365 days of the year.

“Since 2018, we have worked hard to create a sustainable environment on-site at the club and are grateful for all the support we have received from our partners and stakeholders in our journey so far. Even with this recognition, the club will continue to improve and look to pioneer new sustainable initiatives as we look to lead the industry in tackling this critical issue.”

Chris Gray, Head of Sustainability and Agronomy – Asia-Pacific at The R&A, said: “The R&A is delighted to be part of Sentosa Golf Club’s unveiling of their GAME ON documentary. It is great to be part of something so important and be able to work together on a global scale to fight the issues that really matter to golf and the world.

“GAME ON, which is closely aligned with our own Golf Course 2030 initiative, is not only a vital campaign in helping to reverse the impact of climate change, but it is also crucial to the overall survival of golf, a game that is so widely loved throughout the world.”

The newly crowned ‘World’s Best Eco-Friendly Facility’ has also boosted its approach to environmental sustainability by forming a partnership with international sustainable golf non-profit, GEO Foundation. The collaboration will see the integration of GEO’s industry-leading OnCourse programme and GEO Certified label with Sentosa’s ‘green-culture’ to pioneer new innovative practices, as well as gather, verify, and report credible results to share with other clubs around the world.

A recent Golf Sustainability Fund Grant by The R&A made Sentosa the first club in Asia able to grind down food and horticultural waste to reuse as fertiliser on its golf courses.

*To watch the documentary, please click here.