Golf Inc - March/April 2009 - (Page 42) National Service Resort & Country Club SINGAPORE The inspiration for getting in harmony with the environment at the National Service Resort & Country Club in Singapore stemmed from a colony of birds living on the development site. “When I first came to this golf course (the early 1990s), it was still in construction,” said James Sua, the resort’s manager of course maintenance. “I found a heron colony at the back of our Army Course No. 1. Herons had been identified as endangered species here in Singapore. So we started to create a sound environment to allow the gray and purple herons to continue to stay and grow their numbers.” Those efforts included creating wetlands on the course where the herons could feed, creating dense The National Service corridors on the golf course Resort & Country Club is for them to travel around honored as a runner-up in the Renovation of the the course. “It all started from there,” Year contest: Page 38 Sua said. The club has been a designated Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary from the beginning and has worked to retain its certification with the environmental organization. As part of a recent renovation of the 27-hole resort, the size and number of nomowing areas have been enlarged for the sake of wildlife, Sua said. More native flora and shrubs were planted everywhere. The club tries to use as much wastewater for irrigation as it can, purchased from a nearby treatment plant. Water is a precious commodity in Singapore, which has to buy much of its potable water from neighboring Malaysia. In the club’s recent upgrading, crews widened or joined ponds together to transform them into wetlands. “Creeks, running stream and water features were installed, linking to wetlands,” Sua said. “All these form a good filtering system for the effluent water and help prevent flooding by soaking up excess rainwater, as well as serving as good drainage for excess water from the turf. Because water that has a high metal content (as treated effluent does) can block absorption of certain fertilizer elements to the turf grass, monthly checks on water quality are conducted in an inhouse laboratory, built specially for such purpose. The efforts have led to savings of as much as 100,000 gallons of potable water a day, Sua said. The resort primarily caters to Singapore Army, Navy and Air Force personnel but also admits local and foreign players. More than 11,000 golfers play at the course each month. “As for chemicals,” Sua said, “we used to spray using more preventive methods than curative methods. We used to spend about $30,000 in Singapore dollars per year on pesticides. Now we only use $10,000. As for fertilizer we have been using slow release fertilizers so we can save labor and gas cost – estimated to be savings of $30,000 a year.” TPC Sawgrass has maintained a commitment to the environment since its founding 28 years ago TPC Sawgrass PONTE VEDRA, FLA. Water features at the National Service Resort & Country Club are part of a wetlands system that filters effluent used for irrigation Ever since TPC Sawgrass was built 28 years ago, it’s been known for being kind to the environment. Wetlands on the site became a pristine wildlife sanctuary and the course over the years has been home to eagles, ospreys, hawks, owls, blue and white heron, cormorants, seagulls, pelicans, ducks and geese. Like the National Service Resort in Singapore, Sawgrass has been an Audubon International Cooperative Sanctuary since it was built. So when the course was renovated in 2007 and a massive new clubhouse was constructed, it would have been easy for the staff to assume that the job of going green had been finished long ago. That wasn’t how General Manager Bill Hughes saw it. “You always need to do more and it became evident we could do more for the environment, ” he said. That top-to-bottom renovation included planting more than 25,000 new shrubs on the course, spoon-feeding nutrients through the irrigation system to avoid waste, saving and transplanting 100 trees; refining and recycling 150 gallons of sol- 42 Golf Inc. March/April 2009 PHOTO (TOP) © CHIP HENDERSON/PGA TOUR
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