With the 2024 professional golf season in high gear, Audubon International – the environmentally focused non-profit organization offering members numerous certifications and conservation initiatives to protect the areas where we all live, work, and play – proudly notes that 25 of its Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary for Golf (ACSP) Certified courses in the United States and Canada are in play on the PGA TOUR, PGA TOUR Champions and LPGA Tour this year. That’s one-quarter of the 101 courses featured across the three Tours.
“As our ACSP for Golf footprint grows from year to year, it’s good to see that our organization’s commitment to sustainability is making an impact at the highest competitive levels of the game,” says Frank LaVardera, Audubon International’s Director of Environmental Programs for Golf. “Having our partner venues featured at events seen by millions of fans each week can only help further the cause for sustainable practices as an integral and vital part of golf’s future.”
Of the two dozen ACSP for Golf Certified courses featured on America’s three top circuits, 14 host PGA TOUR events (seven of which are TPC Network properties), six host tournaments on PGA TOUR Champions and five host LPGA Tour events.
The PGA TOUR’s 2024 campaign began in January with The Sentry at the Plantation Course at Kapalua on Maui, Hawaii, one of the very first courses to win ACSP for Golf certification in 1994. Kapalua was also the leadoff course in the TOUR’s recently introduced Signature Events series, while certified courses Pebble Beach Golf Links and Spyglass Hill Golf Course are featured in the second Signature Event, the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in California. Longtime certified course Harbour Town Golf Links, home of the RBC Heritage on Hilton Head Island, S.C., is the fifth Signature Event in April, while yet another certified member, TPC River Highlands–home of the Travelers Championship–in Cromwell, Conn., is the final Signature Event of the season in June.
Other certified courses on the PGA TOUR include TPC Scottsdale (WM Phoenix Open); TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., (THE PLAYERS Championship); TPC San Antonio (Valero Texas Open); TPC Louisiana (Zurich Classic of New Orleans); Hamilton Golf and Country Club in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada (RBC Canadian Open), Castle Pines Golf Club in Colorado (BMW Championship), and TPC Summerlin in Las Vegas (Shriners Children’s Open).
“The Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program has been an anchor and guiding force for TPC Network golf course environmental programs,” said Collier Miller, TPC Network Vice President, Agronomy. “The TPC Network was an early adopter of this program in 1994 at which time we made an on-going commitment to achieve and maintain certification at all of our properties.”
Pebble Beach makes a second appearance on the PGA TOUR Champions schedule at the PURE Insurance Championship in June, while two more certified TPC courses–TPC Scottsdale (Champions Course) in Arizona and TPC Sugarloaf in Duluth, Ga.–join other well-known certified venues such as Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio, The Club at Snoqualmie Ridge in Washington state and Ritz-Carlton Golf Club in Orlando, Fla.
Certified courses on the 2024 LPGA Tour circuit include TPC Boston, Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Fla., Seaview Country Club in Galloway, N.J., Columbia Edgewater in Portland, and Earl Grey Golf Club in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
The ACSP for Golf certification program provides third-party on-site verification of vetted, science-supported sustainable practices and benchmarks across all required categories, including Environmental Planning, Wildlife and Habitat Management, Chemical Use Reduction and Safety, Water Conservation, Water Quality Management, as well as Outreach and Education. Once certified, each partner has powerful proof of their sustainability efforts to report to members, customers, managers, owners, other stakeholders—and, with this year’s PGA TOUR and LPGA Tour stops, the world’s top players as well as the golf-watching public.
To learn more about how your local golf course, community, lodging property or resort can gain recognition for your environmental efforts or to learn how to expand your initiatives through Audubon International’s numerous environmental certifications, visit www.auduboninternational.org or call toll free: 1-844-767-9051.
About Audubon International
An environmentally focused non-profit organization, Audubon International offers members numerous certifications and conservation initiatives to protect the areas where we all live, work, and play. Its certifications are designed to increase environmental awareness, encourage sustainable environmental efforts, and educate both its members and their communities.
