Incentive Offered by Audubon Lifestyles to Encourage Membership in Sustainability Program for Golf Courses

Palm Harbor, FL, March 03, 2010 --(PR.com)-- Seeking Pilot Members and participants in the Audubon Lifestyles Sustainable Golf Facility Program the organization is offering an incentive to encourage golf courses who wish to become involved in the sustainability movement evolving within the golf course industry. This incentive opportunity was made available in part from contributions and donations given by supporters of the Audubon Lifestyles Sustainable Golf Facility Program.

The first golf facilities that choose to participate will be rewarded. Audubon Lifestyles will waive the $500 registration fee required to join the program to the first golf facility in each of the fifty states within the United States, each Province in Canada, and each Country in the rest of the world who register in the program. This Pilot Member incentive provides a potential to grant over three hundred complimentary memberships, and will stay in effect until 2011.

Those facilities that join as pilot members will not only become the first courses recognized as part of the Audubon Lifestyles Sustainable Golf Facility Program, but also help review and ensure that the program materials “make sense in the real world”, and that what is being covered in the self assessment/audit process of the program is actually covering all pertinent sustainability topics. A variety of golf course types from public, private and resort to large and small are being encouraged to get involved. The Sustainable Golf Facility Program is available to facilities of any budget or size. Sustainability doesn’t have anything to do with the size of the budget, but it has everything to do with the attitude and focus of how a golf facility is being managed.

Those that have partnered with Audubon Lifestyles to create the Sustainable Golf Facility Program believe that properly sited, designed and managed golf courses are among the finest examples of sustainable land use and business management. The economic sustainability of golf courses will prove to be the foundation upon which environmental stewardship and social betterment rests.

“The Audubon Lifestyles Sustainable Golf Facility Program goes beyond just the golf course itself, and why we chose the word ‘facility’ for the program.” Dodson said, and continued, “To date there has been much success with a focus on the golf course itself, but our program is looking to the entire golf facility, including buildings and grounds, and we are looking at not only environmental topics, but economic and social topics as well.”

“The golf course industry has an opportunity to position itself as a leader in the conservation movement for the free-enterprise system", stated R. Eric Dodson. He continued by saying, "But that will only happen if golfers support the ideas associated with golf facilities themselves being managed in more sustainable ways. If we want to see the game of golf continue to be an important part of the landscape, golfers must show their support for sustainable golf facilities.”

Audubon Lifestyles has been working with the Sustainable Golf Advisory Council for the past several months to develop what they believe to be is the most comprehensive program of its type. Additionally, the Sustainable Golf Advisory Council has developed what it believes is the definitive definition of what a sustainable golf facility should aspire to be:

‘A sustainable golf facility is an economically sound business that provides safe, healthy and enjoyable environments for all employees, members, visitors, and guests. A sustainable golf facility is sited, designed, and constructed in ways that enhance the local community and reduce or eliminate its impact on natural resources. It is managed in ways that provide balance between optimum playing conditions for golfers and good stewardship of the natural environment. Management strategies are based upon scientifically sound, site-specific best practices that improve the quality of all life on the site, region and beyond. Through outreach and education, a sustainable golf facility is a champion and advocate of sustainability.’

To learn more about the Audubon Lifestyles Sustainable Golf Facility Program or to join as a pilot member visit: http://www.audubonlifestyles.org/programs/golf.html

###

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.