Robert O. Farren Jr., GCSAA certified golf course superintendent and grounds and golf course manager at Pinehurst Resort and Country Club, in Pinehurst, N.C., will be the 2008 host of Green Links, Highlights from the EDGE.
Green Links is a monthly feature on The Environmental Institute for Golf's Web site, www.eifg.org, and highlights case studies from EDGE, golf's environmental resource.
The Institute, the philanthropic organization of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America, offers EDGE as a comprehensive location for information on golf and the environment that in addition to case studies, features relevant best management practices and links to environmental resources. EDGE is supported in part by a grant from The Toro Foundation, and provides critical information in a variety of areas, including The Institute's focus areas of water management; integrated plant management; wildlife management; golf course siting, design and construction; and energy and waste management.
Farren will take over hosting duties in January 2008 and continue through the end of the year. As host, Farren will provide additional insight and information about the featured case study.
"I decided to be involved with Green Links because I felt it is a very worthwhile way to communicate the message we as a golf community need to make more people aware of," Farren said. "I think it is very important for all of those interested in golf or development to be aware of these success stories. Everyone has something to learn from those that have traveled before them."
Farren, along with the rest of the Pinehurst team, was rewarded for his environmental work when Pinehurst was presented with GCSAA's 2007 President's Award for Environmental Stewardship earlier this year at the GCSAA Education Conference and Golf Course Industry Show in February in Anaheim.
He will take over the hosting duties from David Phipps, GCSAA Class A superintendent at Stone Creek Golf Club in Oregon City, Ore. Phipps, who is past president of the Oregon Golf Course Superintendents Association, was a key force behind the chapter's Environmental Stewardship Guidelines, which won the President's Award for Environmental Stewardship in 2005. In addition, Phipps was a Chapter Winner in the 2006 GCSAA/Golf Digest Environmental Leaders in Golf Awards for his work at Stone Creek.
"We are extremely grateful to David for his service and dedication to Green Links," said Greg Lyman, GCSAA's director, environmental programs. "He is a shining example of the environmental expertise of GCSAA superintendents. We're very fortunate to have his successor be another great environmental steward, Bob Farren."
Lyman says the plan for Green Links is to have the host change each year so a variety of regions and facility types can be represented over the years.
The case studies featured on Green Links provide "real-life" experiences that can have practical applications for builders, superintendents and other industry professionals. In 2007, Green Links topics included:
- A Stream Restoration Project for the Salmon River by Tony Lasher, CGCS
- The First Green Links As Labs Program by Karen Armstead, Ph.D.
- Little Deschutes River Restoration and Fish Habitat Enhancement at Crosswater by Jim Ramey, CGCS
- A "Bird Cam" is a Great Educational Tool! by Alan Nielsen, CGCS
- On Course with Environmental Education by Tim Hiers, CGCS
"I just hope I can help continue the success that we enjoy now," Farren said. "David Phipps has done a tremendous job thus far and will continue to be involved. I look forward to the day that the site is a standard 'go to' site for those interested in furthering their knowledge about the environment."
