Colbert Hills golf superintendent wins award

Matt Gourlay, superintendent for the Colbert Hills Golf Course

Colbert Hills Golf Course is doing its part to help the environment. And those efforts earned course superintendent Matthew Gourlay some recognition.

The Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA), in a partnership with Golf Digest, named Gourlay the winner of the Natural Resource Conservation Award. The honor is part of the Environmental Leaders in Golf Awards (ELGA), which are given out every year by the GCSAA and Golf Digest.

Gourlay earned the award because of Colbert Hill’s commitment making the course more environmentally sustainable the past 15 years. In that time, Colbert Hills has added more than 100 acres of native areas on the course, saving an estimated 72 million gallons of water annually. In addition, Gourlay implemented a conservation program that resulted in a 58% reduction in energy, saving the course $20,000 a year in the process.

This isn’t Gourlay’s first ELGA trophy. In 2018, he won the Innovative Conservation award. Gourlay, along with the 11 other ELGA winners this year, will be recognized Jan. 28 at the 2020 Golf Industry Show in Orlando, Fla. The winners also will be featured in an upcoming issue of Golf Digest and in the February issue of GCSAA’s official monthly publication, Golf Course Management magazine.

“The ELGAs reflect the golf course management industry’s continued commitment to environmental stewardship,” GCSAA CEO Rhett Evans said in a release.

“Congratulations to all the winners. They are great examples of how superintendents can manage their courses in ways that benefit the entire communities they serve.”