Destination Golf Global Guide - Autumn 2018 Autumn 2018 | Page 11

Travel News The Island Golf Club, Dublin, Ireland Extra tee times are now available for visitors to The Island in advance of The Open Championship in July 2019. Members of the Club have kindly volunteered some of their competition times to allow visitors enjoy the course and experience a true links less than 15 minutes from Dublin International Airport and 30 minutes from Dublin City Centre Le Golf National, the host venue for The 2018 Ryder Cup and 2024 Summer Olympics, has retained GEO certification, once again highlighting its commitment to sustainable business management. Golfers close in on Race’s Portuguese finish line More than 3,000 European club golfers have signed up for Clubs to Hire’s Race to Quinta do Lago as they look to cut their handicap and win a place in the grand final in Portugal. And all they have to do to be in with a chance of making the trip in November is to reduce their handicap by 10 per cent before the end of September. Pioneering golf associations collaborate on international sustainability solutions World Environment Day Announcement - Sport & Sustainability As a significant milestone in the advancement of sustainability in and through the sport of golf, the associations of Sweden, Portugal, Switzerland, South Africa, Netherlands, Flanders, Scotland, England, Italy, Iceland and South Africa have stepped forward to set new leadership targets, and provide further support to grass roots clubs. Golf Tourism Survey Results 1st Quarter 2018 IAGTO began its Quarterly Golf Tourism Survey in 2015 collecting and analysing data from 750+ golf tour operators, golf resorts, golf courses and hotels every three months and more than 1000 companies once a year. Golf tour operator sales in the 1st quarter of 2018 were up on average 7.8% year on year. Only 15.4% of tour operators reported a drop in sales. European operators led the way with increases of 9.1%, followed by North American operators on 8.0% and Asia Pacific operators on 7.0%. Ollie to honor Seve with steps alongside Cancer campaigner Nick Edmund In 2020, Nick Edmund, the man whose Global-Golf4- Cancer campaign is gathering momentum, will walk part of the pilgrims’ Camino de Santiago in Spain with José María Olazábal, the two-time Masters champion. Where Edmund has twice diced with neck and head cancer, Olazábal has known health problems of his own, most notably the species of rheumatoid arthritis which struck in the mid-1990s and threatened to have him spending the rest of his life in a wheelchair. Collective leadership will advance golf’s role in fostering nature, supporting communities and conserving resources, with specific view to help ‘Beat Plastic Pollution’ Volume 4 • I