Singapore: A sustainable organic waste management project at Singapore’s Sentosa Golf Club will act as a model for other golf courses around the world.

That’s the view of Chris Gray, Head of Sustainability & Agronomy – Asia Pacific with The R&A.

During his presentation in the Asian Golf Industry Federation’s (AGIF) Sustainability Series, Gray dedicated a segment to Golf Course 2030, established by The R&A in 2018 as an industry initiative to consider the impacts, both positive and negative, of the changing climate, resource constraints and regulation on course condition and playability.

Gray, whose webinar was sponsored by Profile Products, Sustane and Toro, said that in the Asia Pacific region, a Golf Course 2030 plan has been produced for Singapore with organic waste programme disposal being recognised as an on-going and future concern for golf courses on the island.

Using a Golf Sustainability Fund grant awarded by The R&A, Sentosa Golf Club will install two digesters with the ability to grind down food, horticultural waste to re-use as fertiliser on the golf course surrounding landscape.

“With Sentosa Golf Club estimating cost savings of upto 30 per cent on monthly waste disposal costs and having the ability to produce their own organic fertiliser, we envisage that the sustainable organic waste management project will act as a model for other golf courses around the world to follow,” said Gray.

Embarking on a two-stage process, the first will see Sentosa Golf Club using a food placed bio-digester to process and grind down food waste from its three food and beverage outlets on site.

The second stage of the project will be to introduce a heavy-duty woodchipper and a bio-digester shredder to grind down an estimated one tonne of horticultural waste that is generated each month at the club.

Gray praised Sentosa Golf Club as ‘a leader in environmental initiatives’. “Look at what they’ve done – reducing single-use plastics, introducing bee colonies on the golf course and a Keep it Green campaign that they introduced at the 2018 Singapore Open to educate spectators, players and viewers on what they’re doing on the environmental front.”

Before assuming his Singapore-based role at The R&A last year, Gray held the position of Director of Agronomy and Golf Redevelopment at The Singapore Island Country Club and has been an agronomic consultant on a number of PGA Tour, European Tour and LPGA tournaments in the region.

Gray has also acted as a Board Member of the AGIF, playing an active part in the growth and development of the Federation.

In addition to the exchange of information, education/association credits from attending AGIF webinars can be gained in Club Management Association of America, Golf Course Superintendents Association of America, PGA of America, PGA of Great Britain and Ireland, PGA of Japan and PGA of Australia.

Attendance is tracked and a certificate of attendance is issued, pending attendance for a minimum of one hour on the webinar.

*The full webinar can be viewed at the Asian Golf Industry Federation’s You Tube page or by clicking here.