The awards continue to pile up for Jim Pavonetti.
After several runner-up finishes, Pavonetti, certified superintendent at Fairview Country Club in Greenwich, Connecticut, was named a winner in the Environmental Leaders in Golf Awards program. It was the second first-place award for Pavonetti, who has been named a runner-up "eight or nine times now."
Pavonetti, who has been at Fairview since 2008, was the winner in the Natural Resource Conservation Award category.
Other winners are Mark Claburn of Tierra Verde Golf Club in Arlington, Texas, who won the Communications and Outreach Award; Kevin Ackerman of Royal Wood and Country Club in Naples, Florida, winner of the Innovation Conservation Award; and Steven Tierney, MG, at Golfpark Zurichsee in Wangen, Switzerland, who received the Healthy Land Stewardship Award.
Pavonetti was the 2023 ELGA Innovative Conservation Award recipient and was the first runner-up for the 2018 and 2019 Natural Resource awards and the 2021 and 2022 Innovative Conservation awards.
"It really is a nice honor to finally begin to break through the runner-up places in these awards," Pavonetti said. "We try to improve every year, so I guess we are finally getting over the hump."
In 2018 the ELGAs were updated to recognize more superintendents in more focused areas of environmental sustainability. Instead of offering national awards based on facility type, the current version of the ELGAs is based on environmental best management practices and honor specific areas of focus.
- The Communications and Outreach Award recognizes effective communication of conservation strategies with facility employees, golfers and other members of the community.
- The Healthy Land Stewardship Award recognizes effective strategies for efficient use of pesticides and nutrients, as well as pollution prevention.
- The Innovative Conservation Award recognizes unique and innovative strategies for conservation.
- The Natural Resource Conservation Award recognizes effective strategies for water conservation, energy conservation and sound wildlife management.
Among his conservation efforts at Fairview are plans to cut water use by 20 percent. The course uses a combination of surface water from catch ponds and effluent water from the course and neighborhood to eliminate reliance on potable water. Regular testing at Fairview shows that waster leaving the course is cleaner than when it enters.
Lithium battery-powered golf cars and motion-sensor lighting help reduce energy use.
On the golf course, Pavonetti has expanded areas for native plants and pollinators, buffer zones and no-spray areas, bat boxes and bluebird nesting sites.
"Sustainability, best management practices and environmental stewardship are vital pieces to keeping golf a great sport and pastime for millions of people across the globe," Pavonetti said. "I am continuously looking to improve personally and professionally, especially when it comes to environmental stewardship. Sustainable initiatives and accomplishments have become some great ways to consistently improve the playing experiences for our members and guests here at Fairview. Whether it is wildlife enhancements, water conservation, or overall better turfgrass, the membership is incredibly supportive of these efforts, and it is so great to be recognized outside of this by my peers and family of golf/turf maintenance for these accomplishments."
In July, Pavonetti was named to the board of directors of Audubon International and last year was named to the Greenwich Sustainability Committee that includes a cross section of stakeholders that includes engineers, local leaders and residents. As a member of the committee, Pavonetti lends his expertise to others and how the efforts of superintendents in the Greenwich area and throughout Connecticut and be a resource for other entities on their respective path toward environmental stewardship.
"I am always humbled when asked for advice on some of these environmental efforts by other courses and organizations," Pavonetti said. "Being recognized as a leader in this industry is such an honor. This has been a collective effort that includes the entire staff here, and I am thrilled how others view these accomplishments through this awards program. My hope is that the surrounding communities of these great golf courses learn and appreciate what green spaces and golf courses bring to their neighborhoods, and I think the ELGA program is a great starting point."
Mark Claburn
Tierra Verde Golf Club, Arlington, Texas
This is the second ELGA award for Claburn, who has been the superintendent at Tierra Verde Golf Club since 2005. He was the ELGA Public Golf Course and Overall Winner in 2004.
Tierra Verde was the first golf course in Texas and the first publicly owned golf course in the world to be certified as an Audubon Signature Sanctuary.
The public golf course encompasses 263 total acres with 90 acres of managed turf.
Claburn serves on the board of the North Texas Golf Course Superintendents Association; Sustainable Dallas, a local environmental and sustainable business organization; the City of Arlington Green Policy Council; and the Parks Environmental Committee.
Situated on 263 acres, 90 of which are managed turf, Tierra Verde conducts tours for many groups and civic organizations to promote its environemental stewardship efforts and is a template for other golf courses and municipalities throughout North Texas for when crafting their own environmental programs.
"I think as superintendents we sometimes take for granted the great office we have and the technical expertise we possess," Claburn said. "One of the great benefits of outreach and having non-golfers tour your course with you, is gaining a new passion for your profession when you explain the process of course maintenance and sustainable practices and then see the amazement of someone who has never stepped foot on a green before."
Kevin Ackerman
Royal Wood and Country Club, Naples, Florida
Before recently accepting a job with FMC Corp. Ackerman had been superintendent at Royal Wood for 11 years.
In that time, he worked with the University of Florida entomology department on Tuttle mealybug research, and developed a program to control the pest that has since been adopted by many other superintendents.
"Superintendents face various pressures daily, and the Tuttle mealybug is just one example of the potential challenges faced when maintaining ultradwarf bermudagrass greens," Ackerman said. "At first glance, the damage caused by this microscopic pest can resemble a disease or nematodes. My success combatting this pest can be attributed to the support of my peers, insights from the University of Florida entomology department, manufacturers and my own independent trails."
Steven Tierney, MG
Golfpark Zurichsee, Wangen, Switzerland
Tierney also is a two-time ELGA winner in his 26 years at Golfpark Zurichsee. He was the GCSAA Environmental Leaders in Golf National Overall and International Winner in 2012.
Tierney has had to adopt a novel way to combat cranefly problems because golf courses in the country must be, by law, insecticide free. To manage cranefly outbreaks, Tierney and his staff use black plastic tarps on greens at night and then manually clear the larvae in the morning.
They use 18-foot buffer zones around all water and do not mow wildflower meadow areas before June 10 each year. He has adopted a recycling program to work toward a goal of zero waste. So far, the club has reduced waste by 30 percent in the past 10 years.
"We are guardians of the natural habitats, not just the golf course," Tierney said. "In my opinion we should be doing everything possible to maintain it to better the environment we live in today and be able to pass it on to the next generations knowing we have done our best to maintain and improve our golf courses and local environments."
Eight runners-up also received recognition for their environmental efforts.
Natural Resource Conservation Award
- First Runner-up: James Sua, CGCS, Pei Tou Kuo Golf and Country Club, Taipei, Taiwan
- Second Runner-up: Justin Brimley, Crystal Springs Golf Course, Burlingame, California
Communications and Outreach Award
- First Runner-up: Carl Thompson, CGCS, Columbia Point Golf Course, Richland, Washington
- Second Runner-up: Eric Verellen, Snoqualmie Falls Golf Course, Fall City, Washington
Healthy Land Stewardship Award
- First Runner-up: Michael Bednar, Palouse Ridge Golf Club, Pullman, Washington
- Second Runner-up: Harlyn Goldman, CGCS, Needwood Golf Course, Derwood, Maryland
Innovative Conservation Award
- First runner-up: Jorge Mendoza, Green River Golf Club, Corona, California
- Second Runner-up: Chris Robson, Glendoveer Golf and Tennis, Portland, Oregon