The Green Ryder Cup, are you ready golf?

I'm sure you've heard about the Ryder Cups efforts to host the greenest sporting event of all time, but just in case you haven't be sure to watch this video featuring Jonathan Smith of Golf Environment Organisation.

From the article:

But with thousands of spectators jetting in from all over the world and courses needing gallons of water every day, is it possible to stage an environmentally-friendly Ryder Cup?
The answer is “yes”, according to Jonathan Smith, chief executive of the Environmental Golf Organisation.
The international body, which campaigns for golf clubs to take their environmental responsibilities seriously, has worked with Ryder Cup Europe for the past decade.
“We have been doing a lot of planning over the years over how we can minimise the environmental footprint of the event and also get to a point where the event can talk confidently to spectators and the public and act as an advocate for sustainability,” Mr Smith said.
That’s a challenging task, he admitted. “With all of these things there are resources consumed and impacts on the site that are unavoidable.
“But we have tried to look hard and dig deep into where impacts could be avoided, where resource consumption could be reduced and how to protect the site during the event during the construction and take down.”
Mr Smith praised Celtic Manor for reducing its energy use by about 13% last year, but said improving the resort’s environmental credentials remained a work in progress.
“Celtic Manor have certainly been interested, though they admit themselves that there is more to do, and they have set some pretty good, strict targets on where they want to get to in terms of further reductions in energy, fuel and water consumption and waste,” he said.
“From the staging side the response has been great. It has been very positive and one of the really interesting legacies of this work is what we have learnt this year.”
Mr Smith said it was impossible to compare the footprints of previous Ryder Cups as no two tournaments are alike. However, he said it was certainly the “most concerted effort” by a golf event to reduce its emissions.
“One of the reasons we are doing that is because we see it happening in other sporting events, from the Fifa World Cup to the London Olympics, sporting events and the environment is becoming mainstream,” he said. “We want golf events to be leaders in that.
“This is another milestone that gives a lot of momentum to the golf industry because a lot of people look to the Ryder Cup and take lessons from it.”

Also, a previous article and links here: http://goforethegreen.blogspot.com/2008/10/ryder-cup-to-be-environmentally.html