Gary Ingram and Jay Neunsinger Receive 2018 ELGA Honors

On by communications Posted in Blog, Members in the News

Congratulations to GCSANC Members Gary Ingram, CGCS (Metropolitan Golf Links, Oakland) and Jay Neunsinger (Boundary Oak Golf Course, Walnut Creek). Gary is the recipient of the 2018 Environmental Leaders in Golf Award (ELGA) for Communications and Outreach, and Jay is first runner-up!

See below for the write-up from GCM:

A golf course in an industrial area near the Oakland, Calif., airport may seem an unlikely place for an environmental leader, but Gary Ingram, director of agronomy at Metropolitan Golf Links, and his staff are making it happen.

The 18-hole golf course, which sits on a former landfill, opened in 2003 and was certified as an Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary in 2005. Ingram keeps Metropolitan Golf Links in the public’s mind by collaborating with numerous community organizations, including the Police Athletics League, Spanish Unity Council, Oakland Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and the Oakland City Council. Ingram, a 38-year GCSAA member, also serves on the Oakland High Environmental Academy board and participates on the local water district’s landscape advisory committee.

Outreach to the next generation of golfers comes through Metropolitan Golf Links’ nonprofit organization, the Oakland Turfgrass Educational Initiative, which provides STEAM field trips (science, technology, engineering, art and math) to 200 area students each year.

First runner-up in the Communications and Outreach category is Jay Neunsinger, superintendent at Boundary Oak Golf Course in Walnut Creek, Calif., with second runner-up honors going to Jason Haines, superintendent at Pender Harbour Golf Club in Madeira Park, British Columbia.

View the full article featuring all of this year’s ELGA honors here.

Thank you Gary and Jay for all the work you do!