BOCA RATON, Fla. — At most PGA Tour Champions events, the excitement occurs on the greens. It’s what every golfer aims for on almost half their swings. And the best ones receive the most green – as in cash.
At the TimberTech Championship this week, the second-to-last event of the season, a focus is on going green – as in recycling.
The sponsor of the Champions event at Broken Sound Club on Nov. 5-7 pledges there will be no waste sent to landfill from the tournament. The program is called Zero Waste.
TimberTech Championship officials have spent the last several months designing waste out of the event and have found ways to recycle, reuse, compost or donate most waste streams. They’ll also take advantage of an on-site composter at Broken Sound, a club with a long-standing commitment to sustainability. Some of the waste will even be used to build TimberTech’s low maintenance and environmentally sustainable outdoor living products.
“We believe in bringing people together for unique outdoor experiences made possible by beautiful, high-performance outdoor products that are sustainable,” said Paul Kardish, chief legal officer at AZEK, TimberTech’s parent company.
“We are deeply committed to a lasting impact on the world by accelerating use of recycled material. We are very proud the TimberTech Championship is the only PGA Tour Champions event that will be certified Zero Waste.”
Fans can help with the tournament’s think-green initiative by bringing plastic bags – grocery bags and dry cleaner bags, for instance – for a chance to win a set of two Adirondack chairs, a matching side table (both made out of recycled material) and a TimberTech swag bag.
When dropping bags off, a fan can scan a QR code that automatically enters them into the drawing. Two sets of prizes will be given away each of the three tournament days, six in all.
To make a 300-square-foot deck, it takes about 30,000 to 40,000 plastic bags. Last year’s TimberTech Championship generated 4.1 million pounds of recycled material. This year’s will generate much more.
With the on-site composter, tournament officials will be able to return organic matter and nutrients to the soil and even grow wildflowers to help 22 beehives at Broken Sound.
That’s a lot of buzz.