Phipps to receive GCSAA environmental award

Stone Creek Golf Club Superintendent David Phipps has been tapped to be the next recipient of the GCSAA President’s Award for Environmental Stewardship. Phipps will accept the award during the 2012 GCSAA Education Conference, Feb. 28 in Las Vegas.

“This is a well deserved honor for Dave,” said GCSAA President Robert M. Randquist, CGCS. “He is the consummate environmental steward and continues to be an innovative leader in sustainable land management for the golf industry.”

According to the GCSAA, the President’s Award recognizes “an exceptional environmental contribution to the game of golf,” one that “exemplifies the golf course superintendent’s image as a steward of the land.”

Phipps, who has worked at Stone Creek since its inception in 2000, has long been environmentally conscious. He was picked for the award based on his longtime environmental advocacy.

Among other things, Phipps’s extensive environmental stewardship includes serving as the Oregon GCSA’s Environmental Committee chairman; certifying Stone Creek as an Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary; and helping organize the second edition of the Oregon Stewardship Guidelines. Phipps also developed and took photos for a Stone Creek Golf Club calendar that has generated $2,500 in sales for The Environmental Institute for Golf.