The R&A wants to ensure golf is thriving 50 years from now and Director of Sustainable Golf Daniel Lightfoot is leading the charge.
Daniel Lightfoot knows the golf industry from top to bottom. Having started out as an assistant greenkeeper and worked his way up to Director of Sustainable Golf at The R&A via roles as a course manager, lecturer and commercial head, he has acquired the first-hand knowledge and experience required to embrace his new remit with a real clarity of purpose. Leading a world-class team, he is helping to forge a path towards a brighter, more sustainable future for the game of golf.
It has been quite the journey from his days as an assistant at The Hertfordshire, where he had initially been on placement during his HND in golf course management, and even amid his busy schedule, Daniel sometimes affords himself a moment to let it sink in.
“If somebody said to me as a young greenkeeper that you’re going to be a director at The R&A, I wouldn’t have believed it,” he said, with his career path proving to any ambitious greenkeepers that the sky is the limit. “It’s just a great job. I’ve got an office at St Andrews and some days I just wander out and look at where I am and just reflect on what an amazing journey it’s been.”
But it’s not the personal ‘pinch me’ moments that drive Daniel on, not when there is so much more at stake. Although the impact of climate change is being felt far beyond the world of golf, Daniel believes the sport is ideally placed to set an example for others to follow.
“There is no better sport in the entire world than golf to be able to deliver a positive example for sustainability,” said the former course manager at Bearwood Lakes.
“We are in the best position to show how amazing golf can be for land use, biodiversity and embracing the beauty of the natural environment. It’s also great for people, for their health, for getting out in in the wider world and exercising, and for connecting with the wider community.
“The opportunities are so powerful and I’m really optimistic about the future of this sport we love.”
“There is no better sport in the entire world than golf to be able to deliver a positive example for sustainability” – Daniel Lightfoot
Daniel, who spent two years as a lecturer in turfgrass science at Merrist Wood College, speaks with great passion on the subject of the work being undertaken by Sustainable Golf, a department which is supported by five strategic pillars, all of which provide the foundation on which The R&A can – with the help of stakeholders across the game – build a more sustainable future for golf, with the aim of ensuring it is thriving 50 years from now.
In his position as Director of Sustainable Golf, Daniel is at the forefront of that and it’s a responsibility he is relishing, particularly given the exceptional qualities of the team he now leads.
“My role is to be a facilitator and provide leadership,” he said. “I aim to facilitate my teams and give them the resources they need to be able to do their job. It’s my role to find out how we can do a better job at championships, how we can do a better job in sustainable agronomy, how we can grow our agronomy teams, how we can grow our education, and how we do better research so that I can support that and work hard to give my team the resources to deliver it.
“On the leadership side, my job is to stand up at the front and really deliver that message about what we’re doing. I’ve been in the industry a long time now so I know a lot of people, but you can always know more.
“I’ve got an amazing team of great people. Some of them I’ve known a long time and some I’ve known for six months, but it’s just an absolutely outstanding team with some world-class agronomists and world-class employees, and that was my main reason for joining.”
“I’m really optimistic about the future of this sport we love”
Daniel Lightfoot
A key part of The R&A’s vision is the Sustainable Agronomy Service, with its expert team of agronomists on hand to deliver advice to any golf clubs seeking to fulfil their potential while maintaining a strong focus on environmental stewardship.
With his years of experience as a greenkeeper, Daniel understands the importance of providing support and advice that is practical and relevant to the specific challenges faced by an individual golf club, rather than trying to enforce blanket solutions.
“The Sustainable Agronomy Service is for any golf club that wants to engage our world-class agronomists to help them achieve their potential,” he said. “That service is growing very well in the UK and Ireland, we have a team in the Asia-Pacific, and we’re just launching into Europe.
“We don’t necessarily look for one-size-fits-all solutions because you’ll find the market challenges and the agronomic challenges will vary hugely across different countries.
“The R&A’s job is to pull everybody together and share best practice, but it’s also to understand the cultural differences and the agronomic differences within all the countries and try to find sustainable strategies that are best for the specific circumstances.”
Sustainable Championship Agronomy brings that same approach to facilities that host R&A championships, where some of the finest golf courses in the world are produced under sustainable practices.
“The key is to deliver solutions where sustainability, or environmental performance, meets agronomy and playability performance,” Daniel explained.
“Everything we do within Sustainable Golf is about providing a showcase for sustainable strategies in golf to drive better sustainability behaviour for clubs around the world and deliver outstanding playing conditions.
“Something that has to really underpin our message around agronomic and environmental sustainability is that it’s a positive thing. We’ve got an opportunity to bring people together — our affiliates, greenkeepers, other key stakeholders — and to share best practice with the aim of continuously raising the bar.
“That’s our remit, that’s our responsibility, and that’s what we’re aiming to do.”
The five pillars of The R&A’s Sustainable Golf
:: Sustainable Agronomy Service
Providing bespoke advice and guidance to golf facilities worldwide to increase awareness and adoption of best practices in sustainable agronomy.
:: Sustainable Championship Agronomy
Delivering sustainable, world-class playing conditions for championship venues – a platform for showing what is possible.
:: Golf Course 2030 Research
Providing research funding to establish practical solutions in sustainable agronomy, resources, biodiversity and climate change.
:: Sustainable Greenkeeping & Scholarships
Providing support, funding and opportunities for practical experience to new and developing greenkeeping talent.
:: Sustainable Championships (Greenlinks)
Demonstrating leadership in hosting sustainable golf championships and addressing The R&A’s operational impacts in staging major sporting events.
