Learn about the process, benefits and rewards of GEO Certification.
Use our A-Z to find facilities around the world that are Registered and Certified.
Golf Club La Pinetina
Appiano Gentile, Italy
Certified 02 / 2010
RJ National
Ipswich, United Kingdom
Certified 02 / 2010
Golfpark Nuolen
Wangen, Switzerland
Certified 12 / 2009
Viborg Golfklub
Viborg, Denmark
Certified 09 / 2009
Ljunghusen Golf Club
Höllviken, Sweden
Certified 05 / 2009
Moon Palace Golf & Spa Resort
Cancun, Mexico
Certified 07 / 2010
Coldra Woods, Newport
Wales, United Kingdom, NP18 1HQ
This On Course™ Report indicates the commitment of Celtic Manor - The Twenty Ten Course to become a GEO Certified facility by July 3rd 2012
It has been automatically generated from data submitted to the Golf Environment Organization by Celtic Manor - The Twenty Ten Course. Publication of this data is the first step towards becoming a GEO Certified facility.
To achieve full certification Celtic Manor - The Twenty Ten Course will be required to submit further detailed data and be assessed by a GEO Accredited Verifier against the GEO Certification Criteria. You can download the criteria from this page.
Each section in this report covers a key area of environmentally sound facility management. As defined by the Golf Environment Organization, these are: Nature, Landscape & Heritage, Water, Turf, Waste, Energy, Education & Awareness and Management Planning.
Our aim for nature is to conserve and enhance the biodiversity of the estate through ongoing, informed management of species and habitats.
The estate, and its surroundings are of high ecological value - on both a national and international scale, including Sites of Special Scientific Interest, National Nature Reserves and Natura 2000 European protected areas. The principal habitats and plant communities found on the Celtic Manor estate include: improved or semi improved mesotrophic grassland on the flood plain; abandoned semi improved grassland or unimproved grassland on the valley sides; rough salt tolerant grassland, reed-swamp and fragments of salt march on the banks of the River Usk; small woodland copses and wooded water courses; areas of scrub on the valley sides; ancient and long established native woodland and artificially created lakes with water margin vegetation on the golf course.
The estate management staff consistently undertake management activities that protect and enhance the quality of these habitats for a wide diversity of invertebrate, bird, mammal, fish and amphibian species.
Celtic Manor - The Twenty Ten Course features areas that are designated or protected at the following levels:
The following ecological surveys have been undertaken:
| Title |
|---|
| Botanical |
| Birds |
| Mammals |
| Invertebrates |
| Amphibians |
Estimated area of habitats at Celtic Manor - The Twenty Ten Course:
Celtic Manor - The Twenty Ten Course has undertaken the following activities to enhance nature protection:
| Activity |
|---|
| Encouraged naturalisation of wetland and drainage ditch margins |
| Reduced the amount of mowing to increase the area and connection of rough grassland |
| Undertaken annual bailing of rough grassland to reduce coarseness, open up sward and increase botanical diversity |
| Retained areas of untouched rough grassland as undisturbed breeding and foraging habitat for small rodents |
| Worked with government authorities on relocation and habitat enhancement for Dormouse |
| Programme of thinning of non native conifer plantations, and underplanting of native species |
| Monitoring water quality to measure impacts on fresh water biodiversity |
We seek to enhance the aesthetic character of the 2010 golf course by maximising positive landscape and heritage attributes and minimising negative impacts.
The area has considerable landscape and cultural heritage interest. The entire site sits within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Glen Usk House and Gardens are a Grade II Listed Building situated in a sheltered hollow just above the golf courses.
In the local Structure plan – parts of the estate are listed as a candidate Special Landscape Area. This recognises areas as being of special landscape status – with its location on the edge of major urban area – and high quality and character of landscape.
Cadw has the Coldra Woods area listed within the Register of Landscapes, Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales.
In relation to heritage, we acknowledge the importance of the area's archaeology and landscape history and, through appropriate advice, undertake sensitive management. With over 50 identified sites of archaeological interest on the estate, and a number of Scheduled Ancient Monuments, we are very cautious to obtain the necessary permissions for any operations that may impact on landscape and cultural heritage.
In this way, the resort has an important role to play in conserving highly valued landscape and cultural heritage interests.
Celtic Manor - The Twenty Ten Course features the following landscape designations:
Celtic Manor - The Twenty Ten Course features the following cultural heritage designations and protected features:
The following landscape assessments and appraisals been carried out at the site:
| Date | Title |
|---|---|
| 2006-08-10 | Landscape Character and Visual Impact Assessment |
The following archaeological and heritage surveys have been carried out at the site:
| Date | Title |
|---|---|
| 2006-05-18 | Archaeological Review of Celtic Manor Resort estate |
Celtic Manor - The Twenty Ten Course undertakes the following activities to enhance landscape and cultural heritage:
| Activity |
|---|
| Re-structuring prominent conifer plantations and transitioning into native woodland |
| Naturalising water features |
| Contour mowing of golf course |
| Retaining large buffer strips adjacent to River Usk |
| Avoiding all construction activities in or close to the vicinity of archaeological remains |
| Undertaking numerous archaeological digs and reports |
We continually strive to minimise water use, and to protect and enhance water quality.
This requires an holistic approach to estate and water resource management, acknowledging that a wide range of operations have impacts on both the amount of water used, and the quality of water flowing through and off the site.
| Primary Source | Secondary Source (if used) | |
|---|---|---|
| Clubhouse | Public / Potable | N/A |
| Golf Courses | Recycled Drainage & Irrigation | Groundwater |
| Accommodation | N/A | N/A |
| Maintenance facility | Public / Potable | Recycled Drainage & Irrigation |
| Other | N/A | N/A |
The following areas are irrigated:
| Area name | Approx. Hectarage |
|---|---|
| Greens | 2 ha |
| Tees | 2 ha |
| Fairways | 18 ha |
| practice ground | 2 ha |
Celtic Manor - The Twenty Ten Course does not undertake environmental monitoring of water quality.
Celtic Manor - The Twenty Ten Course has undertaken the following activities to conserve / reduce / minimise water consumption:
Celtic Manor - The Twenty Ten Course undertakes the following activities to protect and enhance water quality:
We adopt an integrated approach to turfgrass management.
This means they combine careful species selection and promotion, with regular cultural practices to improve plant health, supported by ongong monitoring and scoutng to determne the impacts of pests and diseases.
Turfgrass varieties selected for overseeding and turfing are advised by the internationally respected University of Aberystwyth, and centre on the use of the Aber series – specific cultivars that are bred from locally derived origin species.
In the event that pesticides are used, these are applied according to all relevant legislation and best practice application techniques.
CMR do all they can to reduce the need for chemical applications. Professional staff make informed judgemenets based on thresholds for acceptable levels of pest and disease damage.
Currently efforts are being re-doubled in order to reduce chemical and fertiliser use, in order to minimise maintenance costs.
Celtic Manor - The Twenty Ten Course maintains the following turfgrass species:
Celtic Manor - The Twenty Ten Course regularly undertakes the following practices to improve turf health:
The fertiliser programme for the 2010 course is very carefully callibrated.
Soil is analysed once per year to inform fertiliser programme.
Potassium nitrate based fertilisers are used to harden plants and to ensure fertiliser is immediately available to the plant – avoiding nutrient accumulation in soil, or leaching;
Nutrition programme is also flexible – varying from granular slow release to liquid foliar feeds;
Seaweed and organic based fertilisers are also being reintroduced in order to stimulate microbial activity and beneficial bacteria and fungi;
Plant colur is an issue, but not top of the list of priorities.
The greenkeeping staff feed the following areas of the golf course:
A number of pests and diseases are prevalent on various parts of the golf course and require different methods of control.
Pests range from worm casting; leatherjacket (crane-fly) larvae; and chafer grubs, whilst the most common and damaging fungal diseases are fusarium, take all patch and anthracnose.
As a tournament venue, and host to the 2010 Ryder Cup, it is obviously vital that playing conditions are amongst the best in the world. However, the focus is on healthy, drought, disease and wear tolerant surfaces, and course managers do all they can to reduce the need for chemical applications.
Professional staff make informed judgements based on thresholds for acceptable levels of pest and disease damage.
Currently efforts are being re-doubled in order to reduce chemical and fertiliser use, in order to minimise maintenance costs.
Pesticides used include:
Herbicide – tees, fairways, semi rough and some areas of thistle and docken prone rough areas (although these are increasingly being flail mown). A new policy has been adopted to reduce herbicide use in rough areas to a bi-annual action, and then only to discrete targeted problem areas.
Fungicide – never on fairways or surrounds and only occasionally on tees in advance of the Wales Open. More frequently on putting greens, combined as a preventative and curative depending on conditions and risks of damage.
Insecticide – targeted on small areas of semi rough, fairways and putting green approaches.
Celtic Manor - The Twenty Ten Course keeps detailed records of pesticide application.
Celtic Manor - The Twenty Ten Course undertakes the following activities to minimise / reduce pesticide use:
| Activity |
|---|
| Regular and increasingly frequent cultural management |
| Care not to over-stress the turf - application of disturbance theory |
| Care over cutting heights at different times of year (excpetion during summer tournament play) |
| Sharp blades - on site grinding unit to ensure best quality of cut and least turfgrass blade damage |
| Continual review of grassing plans to minimise intensively maintained turfgrass area |
| Hand weeding rough grassland areas April to September |
Waste Management is a very important aspect of our environmental stewardship. We are aware of the environmental impacts of consuming non essential procutcs and materials, and also of generating waste that goes into landfill.
We are also aware that much good environmental work can be undone through pollution, spillages, and dumping of contaminated liquids and materials.
The resort as a whole has a comprehensive waste management policy, which is adopted and implemented by the course and estate management staff for the 2010 site.
This follows the reduce, re-use, re-cycle and dispose hierarchy.
A sumary of our waste management policy is that we will not purchase more items or materials than necessary. Where possible, we will purchase supplies from companies with an environmental policy and demonstrable performance. We will also strive to purchase products and materials derived from re-cycled sources. We will segregate our waste and ensure a high proportion goes to re-use and re-cycling within the UK. We will store, handle and dispose of all hazardous materials in accordance with relevant legislation and best practice.
| Avoid | Re-use | Recycle | Landfill | Incineration | Registered Uplift | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glass | No | No | No | Yes | No | No |
| Plastic | No | No | No | Yes | No | No |
| Aluminium | No | No | No | Yes | No | No |
| Metal | No | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Paper | No | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Cardboard | No | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| Electrical | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| Grass Clippings | No | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| Cores | No | No | Yes | No | No | No |
| Turf | No | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Sand | No | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Wood / Timber | No | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Leaves | No | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Detergents | No | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| Cooking Oils | No | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| Lubricants | No | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| Pesticide Containers | No | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| Fertiliser Bags | No | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| Oil Filters | No | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| Batteries | No | No | No | No | No | Yes |
Celtic Manor - The Twenty Ten Course has secure storage for hazardous material.
Celtic Manor - The Twenty Ten Course has not undertaken a waste audit.
| Discharges to: | Legally Compliant? | Formal Discharge Agreement | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clubhouse | On-Site Treatment Plant | Yes | Waste Water Clubhouse Formal Discharge Arrangement |
| Accommodation | Mains Sewer | Yes | Waste Water Accommodation Formal Discharge Arrangement |
| Maintenance Facility | Closed Loop Recycling | Yes | N/A |
| Wash Pad | Closed Loop Recycling | Yes | N/A |
Celtic Manor - The Twenty Ten Course does not undertake any activities to reduce resource consumption or minimise waste.
The clubhouse and maintenance facilities for the Celtic Manor 2010 site have all been recently designed and constructed. This means that they contain many of the most up to date energy efficiency technologies. Low energy light fitments, motion sensors, water saving devices, high standard insulation and ventilation - all integrated into the construction of new buildings.
The newness of the facilities also means that energy data has yet to be collated. This work is currently taking place and a full year's worth of energy information will become available.
We are also well aware of the energy implications in course maintenance - through direct use of machinery in turf management operations, and also including the embodied energy which goes into the manufacturing and supply of fertilisers and pesticides.
Across the Resort, every effort is being made to avoid all un-necessary purchase and consumption of resources and use of energy. Our aim is to produce a high quality product with the minimum input of energy and materials that embody energy.
We are continually looking for ways to cut out any wasteful activities, to find better ways of doing things and consider investment in utilising the latest and most efficient technologies.
Celtic Manor - The Twenty Ten Course has chosen not to publish data on energy consumption.
Celtic Manor - The Twenty Ten Course has not undertaken an Energy Audit.
Celtic Manor - The Twenty Ten Course has not undertaken any activities to record energy consumption.
Activities undertaken to reduce energy consumption:
Green purchasing activities undertaken:
There are no departments involved in energy saving activities at Celtic Manor - The Twenty Ten Course.
Employees of Celtic Manor - The Twenty Ten Course receive the following formal and informal environmental education:
Celtic Manor - The Twenty Ten Course keeps formal staff training records for these departments:
Celtic Manor - The Twenty Ten Course keeps the following record of accidents in the workplace:
Celtic Manor - The Twenty Ten Course undertakes the following internal environmental communications:
Celtic Manor - The Twenty Ten Course undertakes the following external environmental communications:
Celtic Manor - The Twenty Ten Course works with the following external groups:
Celtic Manor Resort 2010 Environmental Policy.pdf
Celtic Manor - The Twenty Ten Course has an Environmental Management Plan covering:
Celtic Manor - The Twenty Ten Course has an environmental working group, comprising the following individuals/organisations:
