From December 16 to 19, 2021, the Volvo China Open will be held for the fourth time at the Shenzhen Zhengzhong Golf Club.
When seeing the theme of this year's event, "Walking Towards The Green, Waving the Future", the operation team of the Club will smile. Clearly, the oldest national golf open tournament in the country will be committed to creating a "green event". In this process, what better way to demonstrate the determination of the event organizing committee to embrace "green events" than to hold an event on a golf course certified by GEO, an international environmental authority?
As early as October 2020, the Club in the Middle has become one of only 6 clubs in the Chinese mainland to achieve GE0 certification. This is the best "god assist".
One of the first clubs in The country to receive GEO certification
In 2015, the United Nations adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which sets an inspiring vision for all with 17 sustainable development goals.
Experts predict that by 2025, 2/3 of the world will live in scarce areas; by 2050, the plastic products in the oceans will exceed the weight of all fish; 50% of wild animals will become extinct within 50 years, and humans will live on a stressful planet. There are fears of global warming, scarce and expensive resources.
Some people vividly use an analogy: "the quality of the environment = the quality of living + the quality of health".
While a standard 18-hole golf course often covers more than 1,000 acres, some argue that "the most precious land on earth has become a playground for the super-rich." The golf industry has long been labeled as "polluting the environment and unfriendly to nature".
GEO is here for this purpose.
In the world of sports, GEO is a partner of the International Olympic Committee and the only sustainable sports organization in the world that meets the very strict membership standards of the ISEL Alliance.
GEO emerged in the high ball world as a game changer, advocating the true value of Erf in the concept of sustainable sports. Over the years, GEO has established partnerships with 75 countries around the world and collaborated with numerous Erf Industry Alliances, government departments and government organizations around the world, so that Erf's positive impact on society and the environment is fully recognized and valued, helping Erf to become a leader in advocating sustainable development.
This concept of GEO has been echoed by the club in the middle.
As a member of China's golf industry, over the past 27 years, with Shenzhen as the background of this international pioneer city and under the leadership of Zhengzhong Group, Zhengzhong Club has always insisted on excavating and transmitting the spiritual connotation of golf, combining with the city, assuming more social responsibility, showing the essential charm of this sport, and justifying the name of the golf industry.
In October 2019, the Club officially launched the preparation for GEO certification, and strictly followed the three modules of "Nature, Resources and Community" in the OnCourse Sustainable Development Application Program in its daily operations. A year later, the Club was officially certified and licensed by GEO Certified, becoming one of the first clubs in China to receive GEO certification.
Born of "green", carefully care for every inch of land
One might wonder: On the one hand, there are hundreds of golf courses in China, but GEO has been in China for many years, so why are the number of courses certified by GEO so rare now? On the other hand, why did the club in the middle of the club pass the certification in just one year?
The answer is simple.
Geo's certification standards are recognized both inside and outside the industry, and the excellent quality of the club is the passport for GEO to be certified.
After confirming the look, the GEO and the center ball will immediately touch the brightest spark.
The club can be described as "green", and since its birth in 1994, it has had the gene of green and sustainable development.
The word "green" in the name of its predecessor, CITIC Green Golf, speaks to the natural endowment of this area, which occupies one-thousandth of Shenzhen. "Thousand Acres of Dragon Lake", "Ecological Lake Island" and "Eye of Shenzhen" show the scenery of the land where the club is located, and the environment is pleasant.
When Zhengzhong Group acquired CITIC Green Golf Club in 2005 and renamed it Zhengzhong Golf Club, the brand concept of "unlimited business, win-win in the middle" of Zhengzhong Group was also subtly injected into Zhengzhong Club. Over the years, Zhengzhong Group has been committed to promoting the development of industrial and commercial civilization, striving to become a trusted benchmarking enterprise, and adhering to the path of sustainable development. When it incorporated the Center Club into its flag, the four elements of golf's "green, sunshine, oxygen, and friendship" coincided with the brand concept of the Center Club. The first major initiative of the Chia Chung Group for the club was to invite Neil Haworth, a famous golf course designer from North America, to make a complete renovation of the course.
Haworth is extraordinary, following the ecological principles, preserving the original mountain forest vegetation and topography to the greatest extent, integrating the three styles of lakes, hills and plains, leaving an exquisite garden-style stadium for Shenzhen. The club has a 36-hole international championship course (divided into A and B fields) with a total area of 2.5 million square meters.
Since 2015, The Club has been selected as the third of China's Top 10 Clubs by Golf Masters for three consecutive years and has been shortlisted for asia's top 100 courses. The quality of the club is also endorsed by the European Tour League, and in January 2019, it was invited to join the European Tour League, becoming the first league stadium in China. Over the years, The Club has hosted a number of international competitions, hosting the Shenzhen International Tournament for three consecutive years from 2015 to 2017, and is also the venue for the Volvo China Open (2014, 2019-2022).
Repeatedly recognized by international competitions, the club is one step ahead of nature conservation. It's no wonder Haworth returned to the Centre Golf Club again in October 2019, feeling the beauty of the course he designed himself and describing his mood with "oasis, paradise and pride".
Such a rare quality makes the center club first receive a very high impression score in the process of certifying GEO.
GEO requires the clubs participating in the certification to practice the harmonious coexistence of "sports, community, people and environment" in terms of water, energy and resources, environmental quality, landscape ecology, humanistic community and product and industrial chain.
This is also the principle of the daily operation of the club. The club always adheres to the laws of nature conservation, carefully cares for every inch of land, and makes people harmonious and close to nature. Taking lawn maintenance as an example, the club implements the eco-friendly nursing concept, strictly controls the use of pesticides and fertilizers, uses soil-friendly imported agents, and supplemented by artificial weed removal to minimize the impact of chemical herbicides on the stadium personnel and the surrounding environment. Irrigation water is used locally, and longhu water resources are used to reduce the waste of water resources, so that it can be recycled and sustainable.
Spectators watching the 2020 Volvo China Open noticed that the garbage at the club was sorted.
In terms of "supporting the community", the center club also has a unique experience.
The Volvo China Open has been held in the Zhengzhong Club for four consecutive years, making Shenzhen, the "capital of golf", staged in international golf tournaments every year, and Longgang has become a sports highland in the east of Shenzhen, and the citizens have feasted their eyes. Impressively, during the 25th Volvo China Open, more than 50,000 spectators came to the Central Club to watch the game, setting a new record for domestic golf events. The influx of such a huge crowd in a week is not only orderly on the spot; more importantly, the tournament week has become a golf festival for the citizens of Pengcheng City, and the people of Pengcheng City have come to the Zhongzhong Club for leisure and vacation, truly feeling the charm of golf and the beauty of competition, which is very much in line with GEO's goal of "supporting the community".
Archive the plants and birds in the park where the stadium is located
After receiving the GEO certification, Kong Weidong, general manager of the club, said: "The concept of GEO coincides with the business philosophy of the Zhongzhong Golf Club. Join GEO to integrate with the international advanced concept of sustainable development, protect nature, save resources and support the community; in addition, GEO has a lot of advanced experience in energy conservation, emission reduction and consumption reduction, and will put forward practical suggestions to the club to help reduce operating costs and achieve a win-win situation of commercial, environmental and social benefits."
To this end, in June 2021, the Zhongzhong Club spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to entrust the Shenzhen Zhongda Environmental Protection Science and Technology Innovation Engineering Center to conduct a census of plants and birds in the area where the stadium is located, and build them one by one.
After nearly half a year, 5 comprehensive surveys and 24 communities, the plant census has reached all the results. A total of 341 vascular plant species were found in the park, belonging to 252 genera in 92 families. The bird census is expected to be completed in early 2022, with 38 bird species recorded in the four previously completed detailed surveys. The club also hangs nameplates for the plants in the stadium, and makes pictures of plants and birds, so that people can sit in the right seat. In mid-December, when the 2021 Volvo China Open, the finale of this year's Chinese golf, is staged at the Club in the middle, the audience will be chasing the stars' wonderful duels, and they can also identify the flora and fauna that coexist in harmony with the course.
The census of animals and plants provides scientific data support for the maintenance of plants and turfs in the middle of the court.
These meticulous and rigorous measures have made people fully feel the determination and action of the Zhongzhong Club to practice sustainable development, jointly protect the beautiful earth, and build a green homeland, and also make the Zhongzhong Club fully in line with international standards in the field of sustainable development, become the leading force for sustainable development of the industry, assume more social responsibilities, and justify the name of the golf industry.