Golf Business News – European Tour Group Launches New Middle East Sustainability Awards

The European Tour Group has launched a new Awards program that will honor and showcase the various suppliers who have pioneered new and sustainable practices in their work to support golf tournaments.

Originally focusing on competitions held in the Middle East region, the European Tour group Sustainability Awards have five individual categories: Regions; Event Stage; Event Activities; New Strategies and Activations; and Catering.

The European Tour is committed to being the most sustainable quality golf circuit in the world. As part of the Green Drive sustainability program, the group has committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and achieving net zero carbon by 2040. That’s no mean feat in an organization that has more than 100 competitions in more than 30 countries each season. DP World Tour, Challenge Tour, Legends Tour and G4D Tour. Tour suppliers are now required to meet sustainability-focused purchasing policies and codes, and are encouraged to bring best-in-class sustainability solutions to events. These Awards will recognize best practice and the spirit of innovation that already exists.

To be eligible to enter, organizations must have been a supplier in one or more of the following competitions for the 2023 – 2024 season:

• Hero Dubai Desert Classic, DP World Tour

• Dubai Invitational, DP World Tour

• Ras Al Khaimah Championship, DP World Tour

• Bahrain Championship, presented by Bapco Energies, DP World Tour

• Commercial Bank Qatar Masters, DP World Tour

• Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, DP World Tour

• DP World Tour Championship, DP World Tour

• Abu Dhabi Challenge, Challenge Tour

• UAE Challenge, Challenge Tour

The first European Tour group Sustainability Awards are live and open to entries. The deadline for submitting an application is midnight on 1 November 2024. More details can be found here.

The judging panel is made up of a mix of experts from golf tournaments and golf sustainability, including independent experts from the GEO Sustainable Golf Foundation.

The winners will be announced in Dubai at the DP World Tour’s season-ending event, the DP World Tour Championship, where the winner of the Race to Dubai in partnership with Rolex will be awarded.

Speaking about the new awards Maria Grandinetti-Milton, Director of Sustainability at the European Tour team, said: “Delivering the golf tournament is a huge team effort, involving a wide network of trusted suppliers. We are fully committed to reducing our carbon footprint as we reach net zero carbon by 2040, and to do this we need our entire supply chain to play its part and join us on this journey. We are already seeing a growing number of examples of good sustainability across our events, and these Awards are an opportunity to celebrate this spirit of innovation and allow our suppliers to share best practice. We are starting with the Middle East region which hosts several of our major tournaments, with scope to expand to other regions in the future.”

Jonathan Smith, Executive Director of the GEO Sustainable Golf Foundation, added: “We are delighted to support the launch of the European Tour group Sustainability Awards, and our wider support for the Tour’s Green Drive strategy. The awards will not only celebrate leadership but will also encourage continuous improvement by highlighting the best efforts of suppliers who are driving sustainability across all golf events, pushing new strategies, and setting new standards for sustainable and reliable event practices.”