Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational achieves world-first recognition in its first year

The 2019 Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational (Dow GLBI) recently was named a GEO Certified® Tournament, designating it as the first-ever professional golf tournament to receive this recognition during its first year of operation and the first event on the LPGA Tour to be fully certified. The certification, awarded by the Scotland-based GEO Foundation (GEO), is an internationally recognized award for sustainability in golf.

To become GEO Certified®, the Dow GLBI – the only team event on the LPGA Tour – executed the first year of a 5-year sustainability strategy that is designed to balance environmental impacts, conserve natural resources and benefit the local community. In addition to the thorough review conducted by GEO, a third-party verification was carried out by the Council for Responsible Sport, the official verification body for the GEO Certified Tournaments in North America.

To earn certification, the Dow GLBI achieved a total of 45 out of 55 points across six categories – planning & communications, site protection, procurement, resource management, access & equity and community legacy.

“The certification process is rigorous and comprehensive, and we are thrilled to achieve this world-first designation for women’s golf during our first year of operating this event,” said Chris Chandler, executive director of the Dow GLBI. “By working in partnership with GEO Foundation and many local partners, we will continue to push the boundaries on environmental sustainability and community value at our future events, with the goal of enriching the Great Lakes Bay Region community and educating and inspiring others.”

Highlights from the 2019 event include:

• 68 percent of waste generated during the Dow GLBI was recycled or reused, with major efforts to avoid single use materials and to pioneer recycling of bulk materials such as banners and wraps.
• More than 1,000 pounds of unused prepared food was donated to the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan, a nonprofit organization that distributes food through a network of hunger relief partners in 22 counties.
• 5,500+ students were introduced to the First Tee’s golf and life skills curriculum, and 600+ children attended The First Tee Junior Clinic at the Currie Golf Course.
• More than 1,450 individuals recorded 28,214,989 total steps as part of the #TeamUp and Step Up for Healthy Living Challenge.
• 36 local non-profits received a total of $200,000 as a result of the #TeamUp for the GLBR program, in which non-profits were paired with teams of LPGA players and had the chance to earn additional contributions based on how the LPGA teams finished in competition.
• Scoping and calculating the comprehensive baseline carbon footprint for the event.

Dow (NYSE: DOW) combines global breadth, asset integration and scale, focused innovation and leading business positions to achieve profitable growth. The Company’s ambition is to become the most innovative, customer centric, inclusive and sustainable materials science company. Dow’s portfolio of plastics, industrial intermediates, coatings and silicones businesses delivers a broad range of differentiated science-based products and solutions for its customers in high-growth market segments, such as packaging, infrastructure and consumer care. Dow operates 109 manufacturing sites in 31 countries and employs approximately 36,500 people. Dow delivered sales of approximately $43 billion in 2019. References to Dow or the Company mean Dow Inc. and its subsidiaries.