It’s Time To Have ‘The (Sustainability) Talk’
Photo credit - PGA TOUR
Sustainability is becoming a hotter topic around the PGA TOUR landscape. With two of the most environmentally conscious tournaments (AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and WM Phoenix Open) approaching on the calendar, now is a great time to begin discussions around sustainability for all events.
Two leaders in the landscape of PGA TOUR sustainability are a great way to kick off the year - but what about the other tours? What about the rest of the year? What about the rest of the country? While many other tournaments continue to lay the groundwork for sustainability internally, from an objective standpoint, many people reading this probably wonder where the push for sustainability is coming from inside the golf industry and how do those conversations begin? What a better time to address this than my first article since attending my first PGA TOUR Meetings.
This past week I met with Brazos Barber of the Korn Ferry TOUR. Brazos, Senior Manager, Tournament Business & Sponsor Relations at PGA TOUR, has been one of the internal champions for sustainability within the TOUR Headquarters. Last month in the PGA TOUR’s hometown, Ponte Vedra, FL, I attended the annual TOUR Meetings and had the opportunity to interact and engage on sustainability with multiple tournaments and partners to the TOUR. As important as conversations are in a one-on-one setting, the most important conversation happened at a Korn Ferry TOUR sustainability breakout featuring Barber and the BWM Charity Pro-Am staff recapping the successful launch of their sustainability program, “Fore the Love of the Green”.
We have noted on multiple occasions the success that the BWM Charity Pro-Am had in 2021 and how they became the standard for tournament sustainability on the Korn Ferry TOUR. To offer support and feedback to all other Korn Ferry TOUR events around sustainability, the first formal conversation on the topic was held at the TOUR Meetings where Barber led a panel including the BMW Charity Pro-Am staff to share their experiences, both the positives and the learning opportunities. I can think of no better participants to lead this discussion than the folks that were involved. In speaking with Barber last week, I got his perspective and feedback from the discussion. I was appreciative of his time and optimism around sustainability and the opportunity for more events to embrace sustainability.
The Korn Ferry TOUR is often referred to as the first step and opportunity for a golfer to make their way to the PGA TOUR. Barber sees the same opportunity for sustainability. He notes “The first step is to have the conversation and now we have done that and Korn Ferry events can become a proving ground for PGA TOUR events in terms of sustainability as well.” Given that 75% of Korn Ferry TOUR events were in attendance and a couple of events said that “sustainability was the biggest takeaway from the meetings”, we as an industry should feel encouraged about the future. So what does Barber see as the next steps for the Korn Ferry TOUR?. “The next steps are to get more tournaments on board and show that sustainability can be part of operations as well as create an organic network of best practice sharing. We are taking sustainability seriously in-house.” The timing of the TOUR’s sustainability initiatives could not come at a better time as support for this type of programming is everywhere we turn.
There is no shortage of support in each host community for sustainability, whether that is environmentally-driven non-profit organizations who want to donate their time, local municipalities who strategize sustainability initiatives and see events as a vehicle for change, or corporations who want to fund programming or share their social responsibility messaging with fans. No step is the wrong step to share your goals and interests around sustainability. As Barber said to me “you don’t have to have all of the answers - just have the conversation with the people in your communities and identify the resources you have.” I can say from experience that the most successful and lasting programs I have found as a sustainability professional are the ones that are backed by their communities.
My personal hopes and goals for next year are for sustainability to continue to be a topic of conversation each December at the annual convening of PGA TOUR events and their staff. I see a real positive trajectory with leaders internally such as Brazos Barber and the staff at the BMW Charity Pro-Am as well as organizations like Blue Strike Environmental who can support initial sustainability planning and identify opportunities for social and financial return on investment of sustainability programs.
