The Greener Golf Network

There are approximately 30 golf clubs in Leicestershire and Rutland. Besides tees, fairways and greens, all the courses have substantial areas of land that can be better used for the recovery of nature and biodiversity. 

In 2021, the Greener Golf Network was formed. A small group of clubs began to work together to discuss and share ideas on how golf clubs can meet their growing environmental challenges together. They run conferences and site visits to clubs that are showing the way forward. Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust has been working with the Greener Golf Network since the beginning, offering our expertise to help meet this demanding challenge.

In 2025, we launched the Greener Golf Nature Recovery Pilot Project with 13 clubs from across Leicestershire and Rutland. Our baseline surveys of every participating club provide the foundation for a partnership-led approach to enhance wildlife value, benefiting both nature and course operations through expert advice and support. Many golf courses already thrive near protected sites and through effective management can be havens for wildlife. Given the scale of the courses across both counties, they represent a significant opportunity to build a connected network for nature recovery.

The group has the support of England Golf; we are told that we are the first, and so far only, county-based network of golf clubs working on sustainability in England. England Golf recognises sustainability in golf as a crucial priority; they recently appointed their first Sustainability Officers and in June 2022, published their Sustainability Plan 2022. 

Find out more about England Golf’s sustainability drive  

To get in touch and learn more about The Greener Golf group please email info@greenergolf.co.uk