Yocha Dehe Golf Club Named CGCOA Community Enviro Award Winner
Sacramento, CA – At the CGCOA annual meeting and education conference at Black Gold Golf Course (Yorba Linda, CA), the association presented its 2015 CGCOA Community Enviro Award to two golf facilities that demonstrate excellence in the area of Environmental Stewardship.
The criteria for this award includes a variety of components such as: reduction of water usage, utilization of drought-tolerant plants, efficient on-site recycling, encouragement of on-course natural habitats for birds and other small animals, and the ability to increase citizen awareness on how golf courses are “friends of the environment” and how golfers can support stewardship efforts.
The recipient of the CGCOA Community Enviro Award in the Northern California region is Yocha Dehe Golf Club at Cache Creek Casino Resort (Brooks, CA), a Troon-managed facility.
Over the last 3 years, this popular resort golf course (which is the property of Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation), has transitioned 45 acres of previously irrigated native areas to non-irrigated native grasses with a water savings of millions of gallons annually.
Yocha Dehe strives to be as environmentally-friendly as possible, while still providing pristine playing surfaces for golfers. Approximately 40% of fertilizing needs are comprised of organic matter, and they continue to look for innovative ways to increase that amount.
Additionally, the golf course (which is part of Cache Creek Casino Resort) maximizes its ability to recycle. The maintenance team culls through all garbage on the golf course and separates the aluminum and plastic bottles for recycling. Specially marked bins are strategically placed throughout the clubhouse and maintenance building, with pickups throughout the week from Waste Management.
This award recipient is using biodiesel (as a diesel fuel replacement) in the course’s maintenance carts. This project was initiated two years ago, and the course is now proud to report the use of recycled cooking oil from the casino in its maintenance carts.
Each year Yocha Dehe serves as a venue for a two-day education conference where more than 100 golf course superintendents gather on site to learn more about the latest in water saving techniques and technology.
In addition to a memorable awards ceremony, the CGCOA held its annual education conference entitled: Lessons from Other Industries. Informative presentations were provided by Evan Bailey, Ryan Vance, Brett Darrow and Shannon Lanyi, and Tommy Zraick.
The 2015 CGCOA annual meeting and education conference was made possible through the generous support of Topgolf and Agri-Turf Distributing.