Report hails Ryder Cup 'Green Drive'

Event praised for eco credentials

The 2014 Ryder Cup has been praised for setting ‘new standards’ in environmental care and consideration.

According to a new report, the ‘Green Drive’, coordinated by the Golf Enivornment Group and led by key event partners, ‘ensured reductions in the event’s resource footprint, while maximising opportunities to deliver positive social and environmental legacies’.

The report found that careful site planning and protection, with monitoring by the ‘Green Drive’ team, ensured zero environmental incidents resulted from the staging of the events, whilst the lower carbon transport plan resulted in more than 7,500 additional spectators per day travelling by rail, straight into the newly-refurbished Gleneagles rail station, and 181,744 spectators travelling on collective bus transportation from the three remote park and ride hub.

Commenting on the findings, Edward Kitson, the Ryder Cup match director, said “We are delighted to see how many practical results the ‘Green Drive’ delivered across such a wide range of aspects of the event, from the venue management to staging to legacies and also in communicating and promoting sustainability.

“This information is now being shared with the organisers of the 2018 Ryder Cup in Paris and, at the same time, the bidding nations for the 2022 Ryder Cup are currently outlining their sustainability plans in their submissions.”

Jonathan Smith, the chief executive of the Golf Environment Group, shared Kitson’s delight at the report’s findings. “Ryder Cup Europe continues to demonstrate an outstanding commitment to sustainability,and the 2014 Ryder Cup ‘Green Drive’ has shown again how important it is to take a team approach at major sporting events,” he said.

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