The successful team are made up of (Right To Left) Graham Lamb,  Denis Church, Aaron Launchbury, Jon Bartlett, Dan McGrath, Lee Campany, Darren Burton and James Brierley

The National Golf Environmental Awards were created in 1997 to highlight effective and sustainable projects being managed by individual golf courses across the UK and reward the individuals that are making real improvements to their local environment and quality of life for the future.  With the ever increasing spotlight on environmental matters, it is important for all golf courses to assess what they can do to protect and enhance the environment and continue to maximise the enjoyment of golf.

The aim of the Golf Environmental Awards is to recognise, reward and promote individuals and golf courses, no matter how big or small, for the time and focus they have put into environmental sustainable management projects.

There are ten prizes presented at an Awards Dinner each January, with only  the top 2 golf courses winning a trip of a lifetime to Europe and a chance to visit some of the worlds leading golf facilities and sites of specific ecological interest.  The Awards are managed and administrated by the Sports Turf Research Institute(STRI) which acts on behalf of the R&A, the worlds governing body for golf.  Each shortlisted entry is independently inspected by an ecologist and judged not on the scale of project or financial investment, but on what the golf course has achieved and how it has benefited the environment.

North Foreland Golf Club’s Course Manager, Dan McGrath MG has been selected as the Conservation Greenkeeper of the Year 2012, one of the 2 top Awards.  This prestigious award is down to the extensive level of ecological and environmental work at the club, the enthusiasm and dedication shown by all the Greenkeeping team over the last 7yrs.  Without the collective effort of the whole team, this award would not have been bestowed on North Foreland GC.

The work carried out by the team involved erecting over 70 bird boxes; locating log piles throughout the site creating valuable habitats; construction of a reservoir; installing a bore hole to top up reservoir levels; use of a on site weather station in order that soil moisture levels can be monitored and only the necessary irrigation quantities are applied; rain water harvesting from the maintenance building roofs which then is directed down to the reservoir; implementing a chalkland regeneration programme where the native chalkland grasses had been lost to heavy infestations of ground ivy; introducing the Operation Pollinator Project to the site in which is hoped will boost the declining bee population and develop valuable ecological resources; composting all green waste which is then used once broken down for bunker & tee construction projects on the course and recycling waste water wash down area for the course machinery.  All of the above projects have played a significant part in the team gaining such recognition on a national front.

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Max Orrin receiving his Titleist Boys Order of Merit winners’ cup from Paul Casey in South Africa where Max is now playing for England boys.  Well done Max.

Max Orrin Triumphs

Although the ‘major’ home titles eluded him, Max Orrin (North Foreland, Kent) has won the Titleist/FootJoy England Golf Boys’ order of merit for 2012.

The 18 year old from Birchington in Kent totalled 595.65, just under 50 more than England under 18 champion Patrick Kelly (Boston West, Lincolnshire), and more than 100 ahead of third placed British Boys champion Matthew Fitzpatrick (Hallamshire, Yorkshire).

Although Orrin won the Thunderbird International Junior Tournament in America and the Kent Championship, most of his points were gathered from runners-up spots in the McEvoy Trophy, the South East Boys Qualifying and the Sir Henry Cooper Junior Masters, while he also reached the last 16 of the British Boys, underlining his consistency.

“It is a massive honour to win the Boys order of merit and I thank Titleist and FootJoy for their support,” he said. “This is a gauge to where you are against the other players because there are so many good players around.

“I’ve had a good season and really enjoyed it. I’m a lot more of a solid player than in previous years, I’ve worked hard on my game, got rid of a few weaknesses and it’s paid off.

“I’ll do a lot more work over the winter and I’m looking forward to next season with confidence.”

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