TPC Sawgrass took a massive step in keeping the environment in mind with the second phase of its sustainability initiative, which includes replacing all plastics water bottles with reusable bottles.
The latest phase went into effect July 31, while the initiative as a whole began in 2019 after meeting with its roughly 300 staff members in preparation for hosting THE PLAYERS Championship that year.
From those meetings, they rolled out the initiative which featured the promotion and placement of recycle bins throughout the facility.
However, then following the COVID-19 pandemic, TPC Sawgrass general manager Derek Sprague felt that it was time to start exploring new ways that the program could be advanced.
“As the dust settled from the pandemic, we looked at what else we could do,” Sprague said. “Eliminating plastic water bottles was what we came up with.”
Although replacing all the plastic drinking bottles on the grounds with either reusable material or paper may have seemed like a large task, it was the logical next step to take for Sprague and the golf club.
“We put about 1,000 bottles a day in our carts for our members, so that’s more than 300,000 bottles a year,” Sprague said.
According to Sprague, they had Coca-Cola trucks coming in for deliveries on a daily basis.
“When you look at all those bottles on a pallet, it just looks like a big blob of plastic sitting there,” Sprague said. “You don’t even see the water in them.”
The club has 400 members to go with its roughly 300 employees and guests that visit the facility.
As part of the initiative, the plastic bottles placed in members’ carts have been replaced by Tervis reusable water bottles that have a special TPC recycling logo on them.
For those who are not a member, the Tervis bottles can be purchased for $10, and $1.50 of every sale will go toward the St. Johns Riverkeeper through a partnership with them and TPC Sawgrass.
“We thought we could help pay it forward, and we’re hoping to be able to present them with $10 to $15k annually from those sales,” Sprague said. “We’ve already sold about 1,000 bottles in the early going. It’s a well-rounded initiative with everyone involved receiving the benefits.”
By rolling the second phase out in late July, it meant introducing it in the middle of a heat wave, which some questioned, but in Sprague’s eyes it allowed them to see where they could make the most improvement.
It was quickly realized that ice dispensers were needed around the grounds in order to keep the water cool on hot summer days to go along with the 16 water bottle refilling stations that had already been placed throughout.
According to Sprague, there has been a lot of pride by employees in connection with the initiative, because they know how much of an impact it can make and how much it can reduce the amount of waste that makes it to the landfill.
“Here at TPC Sawgrass, we’re the flagship of the TPC, and we plan on sharing our insight with other courses in the TPC network,” Sprague said. “Golf courses are a great habitat for wildlife and we’re just trying to do what we can to make it even better.”
