With "going green" becoming more of a national theme, Golf Digest has recognized four golf resorts - including South Carolina's Kiawah Island Resort - with its Green Star Awards for protecting the environment.
The magazine's November issue cites Kiawah's preservation of sand dunes, marshlands, maritime forests and wildlife, as well as the resort's Ocean Course for its drainage-recapture system, which prevents runoff into adjacent wetlands.
Recycling at the resort, overseen by Scott Fister, includes cans and bottles, tires and wooden pallets, paper products, tennis balls and fluorescent bulbs. After island oyster roasts, the oyster shells are collected and returned to oyster beds to enhance breeding, the magazine wrote.
Even island cooking is eco-friendly: chefs serve local fish and shrimp when possible while removing from menus fish that are considered endangered.
Golfers have seen the result of the Ocean Course being re-grassed with paspalum, a strain of turf that thrives on brackish water, cutting the use of fresh water. Results were such that the resort is considering paspalum for its Osprey Point course, the only resort course that uses well water rather than treated effluent.
Other Green Star winners are Barton Creek Resort (Austin, Texas), Pebble Beach (Calif.) Resort and Oregon's Sunriver Resort.
Clemson golf lands gift. The Clemson golf team and the Tiger Golf Gathering Foundation, an alumni-driven group that raises funds for the team, has been awarded a $50,000 gift from IPTAY, according to Bill D'Andrea, Clemson's senior associate athletics director for external affairs.
The money will help fund a clubhouse at the team's new practice facility, being built near Clemson's Indoor Track and Field Complex. IPTAY plans to seek a naming-rights sponsor for the facility.
The Tiger Golf Gathering, begun by several former Clemson golfers now on the PGA Tour and spearheaded by Columbia native Charles Warren, sponsors an annual fund-raising tournament in December. The group also supports the S.C. Junior Golf Association and Junior Golf Foundation.
S.C. player on 'Big Break.' Charleston's Kevan Maxwell, described as "an aspiring golf professional by day, a pizza delivery man by night," is part of Golf Channel's 12th "Big Break" reality series, which debuts Tuesday at 10 p.m.
Maxwell is one of 12 players who participated in "Big Break Disney Golf," which was recorded at two of the Orlando-based resort's courses. The 10-week series will award its winner with a berth in the PGA Tour's 2010 Children's Miracle Network Classic, to be played at Disney World.
Chip shots. Former USC golf team member Fred Wadsworth, who won the Southern Open in 1986, is profiled in the Oct. 5 edition of Golf World in its "Bunker Backspin" feature. Wadsworth, the last PGA Tour player to win an event as a Monday qualifier, coaches the Hammond boys and girls teams. ... Northwood GC will host a fund-raising tournament, Thursday at 1 p.m., benefiting Camp Kemo, which provides cancer treatment for children. Cost is $75/person. Call (803) 786-9242. ... The Carolinas PGA Golf League Championship will be played Saturday at Tobacco Road GC near Sanford, N.C., with 24 two-person teams from across the two states. ... The Newberry women's team set a school record for lowest single round and captured a 13-shot win in the Lenoir-Rhyne/Myrtle Beach Intercollegiate. Sophomore Mario Besio of Argentina won individual honors, shooting 77-72-149, 5-over. ... Golden Hills G&CC in Lexington will host the Greater Columbia Disabilities Foundation Tournament, Oct. 22 at 1 p.m. Cost is $300/team of four. Call (803) 252-5179, ext. 379. ... Russell Wilson recorded a hole-in-one at the Club at Rawls Creek's 165-yard 14th hole, using a 6-iron.
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