Our Sustainability Strategy

Building on internationally recognised principles of sustainable development, the strategy aims to make sure that key environmental and social issues lie at the heart of both strategic and delivery decision making – supporting a viable and progressive economy:

• Making sure that issues of carrying capacity, site selection, cumulative impact and overall scale of golf courses are carefully considered and addressed.
• Helping make cost savings and resource efficiencies through investment in smart technologies.
• Future proofing facilities and protecting from external dependencies and risks
• Ensuring long-term profitability and a positive reputation for the sport.
• Enabling Saudi Arabia's golf industry to be globally recognised for leading the integration of sustainability into the growth of the sport.
• Developing innovative approaches and technologies to be pioneered in the growth of golf, which can then be replicated in other relevant sectors and spheres of Saudi economic development, landscape regeneration and community building.

The purpose of this National Sustainable Golf Strategy is to ensure that environmental and social issues are positioned as integral to the growth of golf in Saudi Arabia. In this way, they sit alongside other economic and golfing drivers – not secondary to them as has been the case in other regions.

The three traditional pillars of conventional sustainable development are Economic, Environmental and Social. Through this lens golf in Saudi Arabia will unite key fundamentals:

• Economic
• Environmental
• Social

All of these things contribute to the core golfing goals of:

Providing a diversity of enjoyable and memorable courses that provide access at all levels of the sport, domestically and internationally.

In fact, the environmental opportunities and constraints are fundamental, underpinning the volume, locations and types of golf being provided. In this way Golf Saudi are looking beyond the historic models of sustainable development as typified by the ‘balancing’ of social, economic and environmental issues, to the now widely recognised principles and approach where environmental issues are fundamental to thriving communities, and of which the economy is a function.

Such an approach allows for issues such as site sensitivity, biodiversity protection, ecosystem regeneration, water dependencies,

clean energy and low emissions to dictate how golf develops.

Adopted by the golf industry in Saudi Arabia, these goals provide us all with a shared roadmap for prosperity for the people and environments connected to golf in Saudi Arabia.

These goals represent vital calls for action for golf courses new and old in Saudi Arabia. They are underpinned by the knowledge that we must respect our environment and climate in order to create successful and sustainable golf courses for future generators.