Expat tournament in Vaud promotes green golf

One could be forgiven for thinking, that compared to other sports, golf is already an environmental friend – after all an average course is constructed of fairways, greens, rough and trees instead of say, steel, glass, plastics and reinforced concrete.

But there’s more to the green game than meets the eye, according to Tom Rosenfield, organizer of the second annual IGOLF  tournament at the Golf de Lavaux course in canton Vaud on August 20, an event aimed at increasing awareness about the issue.

"The mind set in golf is to have perfectly green, beautiful courses. To get them you have to use herbicides, pesticides and lots of water, but that’s not necessary. If you go to Scotland the courses are totally natural and wild," he told Swisster.

Among other activities, the IGOLF international foundation promotes courses which adhere to a strict charter of ecologically sound management practices. Lavaux is one of them.

"Lavaux is next to a reservoir and you don’t want any chemicals going in there," said Rosenfield.

Aimed at the "expatriate as well as Swiss communities”, next month’s 18-hole tournament is expecting to cater for as many as 80 contestants – provided they possess a registered handicap of 36 or better.

A golf initiation clinic, or "taster", is open to 24 participants. "We want to introduce golf to people who have an idea about it but want to try it," Rosenfield said.

"There are some fine organizations in Switzerland which handle those people who can already play. We come in before that. We’re organizing an agenda of clinics and we’re targeting the expatriate community."

Lavaux, which opened in 1999, is a "challenging golf course", said Rosenfield. "But the real advantage is that it’s in the heart of the UNESCO patrimonial site, overlooking the lake and you feel like you’re playing in a Swiss post card."

Challenges include "environmental traps", essentially untouchable areas where penalties are imposed and ball retrieval is forbidden.

Around eight to 10 percent of the course features these hazards, an emerging trend in international golf, said Rosenfield.

IGOLF’s green revolution is also gaining ground elsewhere. "All the new golf courses in the world will be built with some kind of environmental consideration," he said.

"In Asia for instance, when land for courses might be claimed from farmers, these people have to be retrained as gardeners."

The second annual IGOLF Environment Tour gets underway at 8am on Friday, August 20. For more information and registration details.