Matt Schiffer MEIGCA becomes Sustainable Design Leader

EIGCA’s Sustainability Programme is the first and only programme of its kind in the golf industry. Endorsed and verified by the GEO Foundation, this EIGCA initiative is the gold standard for sustainable golf course design and equips participants with the knowledge to meet the ever-increasing demand for environmental sustainability.

Consisting of 33 webinars covering 6 themes: nature, water, energy, supply chain, pollution and community, the RSSGCD is a major time undertaking. Once the webinars have been completed, the final requirement involves a case study of a course the participant has designed. Once the case study has been verified by the GEO Sustainability Associate (GEOSA) network the participant is confirmed as a Sustainable Design Leader.

Matt’s case study is on a new 18-hole municipal golf course with a practice area/driving range and a miniature golf course, which will be built in Old Bridge Township, New Jersey. The key sustainability aspect of this project will be that it will rehabilitate the degraded and derelict 215+ acre, formerly agricultural site by:

• featuring a number of vegetated bioretention basins to hold and treat stormwater and attenuate offsite erosion and downstream flooding
• the bioretention basins, plus two new small permanent lakes and an irrigation lake, should greatly enhance the site’s biodiversity
• preserve and protect, and likely expand, existing on-site wetlands
• due to the very heavy soils, this project was designed to have a very “light footprint” in terms of earth moving and disturbance.

Watch Matt’s case study (opens in Vimeo in a new tab)