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The Remuera Golf Club is proving that golf can provide significant benefits to its local environment.

Located just 10 kilometres from the Auckland CBD it has become the first golf club in New Zealand to achieve Golf Environment Organisation (GEO) certification - an internationally recognised eco-label awarded to golf clubs committed to sustainable operational practises.

Remuera Golf Club General Manager Chris Davis explains “golf courses worldwide have a somewhat tarnished image.

"They have reputation for destroying habitat - for using too much water and polluting waterways.

"In short, for falling short on sustainability practices."

Taking a different approach, the Club has undergone numerous changes to its course for the accreditation.

hese include re-naturalising parts of the course, establishing a number of beehives around the course to help increase pollination of vegetation, replacing exotics trees with natives and reducing water consumption by replacing inefficient travelling irrigators.

Davies says these friendly practices have also reduced operating costs, adding “we're mindful that our course lies in the heart of suburbia and right next to the Waiatarua Reserve – an enormously popular recreational area with wetlands and a robust birdlife.

"We're acutely aware that any poor management techniques on our part could have a detrimental impact – not only on the reserve and its birdlife, but also on our neighbours.

"So, we decided to embrace a range of techniques to reduce our ecological footprint – to show that we can be good custodians of the land."

Remuera Golf Club is one of 170 courses in 74 countries that is GEO certified.

Images: The club has hosted several international events, including a PGA Tour (top), much of the eco-strategy involved improves water quality and attracting bird life (middle) and bee hives at the golf course increases vegetation pollination (below).

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