The European Tour Group has launched a new awards program that will recognize and showcase a variety of suppliers who are pioneering sustainable innovation and practices in their work supporting its golf tournaments.
The European Tour Sustainability Awards are initially focused on tournaments taking place in the Middle East region, with five separate categories: Venue; Event Stage; Event Operations; Innovation and Activation; and Catering.
The European Tour Group is committed to becoming the most sustainable professional golf tour in the world. As part of its green-driven sustainability plan, the group has committed to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and achieve net zero carbon by 2040. For an organization that hosts more than 100 games each season in more than 30 countries, this is no mean feat. DP World Tour, Challenge Tour, Legends Tour and G4D Tour. The Tour’s suppliers are now required to meet sustainability-focused procurement policies and specifications and are encouraged to provide best-in-class sustainable solutions at events. The awards will recognize existing best practice and innovation.
To qualify, organizations must be a supplier to one or more of the following tournaments 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 DP World Tour Bapco Energies
• CommBank 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 Touring Group Sustainability Awards are live and open for entries. The deadline to submit entries is midnight on November 1, 2024. More details can be found here.
The judging panel is composed of experts from the fields of golf tournament operations and golf sustainability, including independent experts from the GEO Sustainable Golf Foundation.
The winners will be announced at the DP World Tour Championship, the season-ending event in Dubai, where the winner of the Dubai Race in partnership with Rolex will be crowned.
European Tour Director of Sustainability Maria Grandinetti-Milton said of the new award: “Putting on a golf tournament is a huge team effort involving a wide range of trusted of our supplier network. We are fully committed to reducing our carbon footprint and reaching net zero carbon by 2040, and to do this we need our entire supply chain to play a role and join us on the journey we are already seeing more and more of at our events. An example of sustainability excellence, these awards are an opportunity to celebrate this innovative spirit and enable our suppliers to share best practice. We are starting in the Middle East, which hosts some of our biggest events, and will expand in the future. to other areas.”
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 alongside our wider support for the Tour’s green driving strategy. The awards will not only recognize leadership but also encourage continuous improvement by highlighting the outstanding efforts of suppliers who are driving sustainability in golf, driving innovation and setting new standards in sustainable and responsible tournament practices An outstanding effort has been made.”
