Mississauga, ON - The Canadian Golf Superintendents Association (CGSA) and Rain Bird are pleased to announce Garry Haynes, MS, AGS, Master Superintendent and Director of Agronomy for Play Golf Calgary in Calgary, Alberta, as the CGSA/Rain Bird Environmental Achievement of the Year Award winner for 2023. 

The CGSA/Rain Bird Environmental Achievement Award recognizes a golf course superintendent member of the CGSA who has distinguished themselves through dedication and contribution to the profession and to their community. The recipient must complete an environmental project, program or practice on their course and then document the environmental impact this initiative has had at their facility.

Garry’s environmental success includes thinking outside the box. The turf facility at the Serenity Golf Club is fully self-sufficient and is completely powered by solar. The course was constructed with 13 holding ponds. Having this storage allows them to collect an abundance of rainwater. The runoff water is used for the water system (toilets, sinks, etc.). “The GRID maintenance shop, a building which is fully self-sustaining, with no connection to the power grid, no connection to city water, and no connection to city sewer. This is what was achieved through a little compromise and inventive engineering.” Quote taken from Garry’s article in GreenMaster that won him the 2022 Gordon Witteveen Award. His article Off the Grid Maintenance Shop details the process they used to develop an environmentally friendly maintenance shop on the Serenity Golf Club. To read his article in entirety, please click here.

Garry has been a CGSA member since 1999 and holds the association's Master Superintendent (MS) and Accredited Golf Superintendent (AGS) designations. He sits on CGSA's Editorial Committee responsible for GreenMaster and communications vehicles. He was on the AGSA Board of Directors, being their President in 2022.

“CGSA is pleased to announce Garry as the 2023 CGSA/Rain Bird Environmental Achievement Award winner. The course’s mission was to create something that would be lower maintenance and more environmentally friendly and it has proven to be very successful for the Serenity Golf Club. Garry’s selection is a great example of his commitment to the environment. It is truly an OFF THE GRID Turf Facility. Thank you and congratulations, Garry."

-       Dustin Zdan, AGS, CGSA President

“Rain Bird is delighted to congratulate Garry Haynes, MS, AGS and his team as the recipient of the 2023 CGSA/Rain Bird Environmental Achievement Award. The forward thinking of the Serenity team and the impressive initiatives that they have made there have certainly reduced their environmental impact. Congratulations on your incredible success!”
- Erica Beck, Golf Area Manager - Canada, Rain Bird International, Inc.

Congratulations to Garry on being named the CGSA/Rain Bird Environmental Achievement Award winner for 2023! We hope you will come and congratulate him on winning this award. He will receive his award during the CGSA Awards Luncheon on Tuesday, February 27, 2024. To register for the conference or to attend the awards ceremony please click here.

Rain Bird is the exclusive sponsor of this award. Thanks to the support from Rain Bird, we can recognize our environmental achievement award winners who are an integral part of the golf course management profession.

About CGSA

The CGSA represents golf course superintendents, assistant superintendents, equipment technicians, and others involved in golf course management across Canada. CGSA was founded in 1966 and has over 1,000 members. Its mission is to promote excellence in golf course management and environmental responsibility through the continuing professional development of its members. For more information, please visit www.golfsupers.com.

About Rain Bird

Rain Bird Corporation is a privately held company founded in 1933. We are the leading global manufacturer and provider of irrigation products and services. Since the beginning, Rain Bird has produced and offered the industry's broadest range of irrigation products for farms, golf courses, sports arenas, commercial developments, and homes in more than 130 countries around the world. Over the past nine decades, Rain Bird has been awarded more than 450 patents worldwide, including the first in 1935 for the original horizontal action impact drive sprinkler (U.S. Patent #1,997,901), which revolutionized the food production industry and ushered in a new era in irrigation, worldwide.