PGA Village recognized as first-ever Audubon Sustainable golf facility

PORT SAINT LUCIE, Fla. -- PGA Village -- which is comprised of the award-winning PGA Golf Club, PGA Center for Golf Learning and Performance and PGA Museum of Golf -- has been honored as the first-ever golf facility to obtain certification in the Audubon Lifestyles Sustainable Golf Facility Program, while also receiving a 3-Star Rating from the International Sustainability Council (ISC).

The Sustainable Golf Facility Program was created through input from numerous individuals, including representatives from several universities and various golf associations, as well as from environmental, economic and social not-for-profit organizations. In addition, the ISC Council reviewed, critiqued and ultimately approved the ISC Sustainability Rating portion of the program. The Certification and Sustainability Rating is based on a comprehensive assessment, audit and submittal process that details economic, environmental and social aspects of facility management.

In addition, PGA Village has created and adopted a Sustainability Charter, which is published on PGAVillage.com as a reference for future management strategies.

"We have been working on the Sustainable Golf Facility Program for several years, including for the past year or so with six pilot member facilities," said R. Eric Dodson, executive director, Audubon Lifestyles. "We were very excited when PGA Village decided to become a pilot member, and we are even more excited that it has become the first golf facility to become fully engaged in the program, achieve certification and receive the ISC Sustainability Rating. The PGA of America and the PGA Village have set the bar in regards to sustainable golf facility management."

PGA Golf Club also continues to maintain its longstanding, certified bronze Audubon International Signature Sanctuary Status for conservation and preservation on its Championship golf courses, designed by legends Tom Fazio and Pete Dye.

"PGA Village has a passion for sustainability because of what it really means," said David S. Downing II, CGCS, director of Golf Courses and Grounds for PGA Village and past president of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America. "If each golf facility is truly sustainable, then we are a community asset. PGA Village can stand proudly on all three legs of sustainability-environmental responsibility, economic viability and social responsibility. That is because golf courses provide habitat for wildlife, serve as filters for storm water and provide green space, which in turn creates jobs and recreation for the community."

In conjunction with the program, PGA Golf Club is working with the PGA Village Property Owner's Association in order to better manage storm water. As a result, on PGA Golf Club's Ryder Course, the facility has worked with Tom Fazio Course Designers to reduce the number of golf course bunkers, making the remaining bunkers less costly to maintain and reduce irrigated, maintained turf areas. These improvements are designed to reduce the amount of the club's inputs and fuel usage, while still providing important green space benefits.

"We are discussing how we can work together to maximize the water for irrigation," explained Downing. "We are beginning to look at the same things on the other courses as well. Being sustainable is a combination of good business and being a good neighbor."

About PGA Village
The Ryder, Wanamaker, and Dye Courses form a trio of world-class courses at PGA Golf Club, at PGA Village in Port St. Lucie, Fla. Having been ranked among the best golf resorts in America, PGA Village also features the award-winning, 35-acre PGA Center for Golf Learning and Performance and the PGA Museum of Golf. PGA Golf Club exists to be one of the premier public-access resort facilities in America, complete with a Private Members Club, and serves as the home club for our 27,000 men and women PGA Professionals.

About Audubon Lifestyles
Audubon Lifestyles is a non-profit organization based in the Principles for Sustainability, believing that the most natural way to foster sustainability is by working to balance the triple bottom line of people, profit, and planet. Operating with the main purpose of benefiting society, Audubon Lifestyles delivers sustainable programming, services and certifications that are cost effective and reduce risk. Our goals include supporting the work of other not-for-profits involved in sustainability on local, regional, national and international scales. We believe that every person plays an important role in regard to the future of our planet. This includes roles at home, at work and in society at large. It is incumbent on each of us to make positive contributions toward the common good by being socially, environmentally and economically responsible where we live, work and recreate. There is no single path towards a sustainable future -- quite the contrary. Each person must create their own path toward a sustainable future, but together we can collectively accomplish more than any one individual alone.

About The International Sustainability Council
The International Sustainability Council (ISC) is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to advancing understanding of the relationships among ecological, social and economic systems for the mutual benefit of people and the environment. This is achieved by forging partnerships with governmental agencies, universities, businesses and not-for-profit organizations that resulted in the development the Principles of Sustainability based in part upon the findings of the United Nations and the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment.