From left: John Crean, General Manager and Chief Operating Officer, Broken Sound Club; Russ Bodie, Principal, The Smart Group; Ryan Dillon, Tournament Director, Allianz Championship

The 12th annual Allianz Championship, set for February 6-12, 2012 at Broken Sound Club in Boca Raton, Fla., announced plans to become one of the greenest golf tournaments in North America. To achieve this goal, the tournament will partner with The Smart Group, an organization of ecologists, scientists, educators, and academic researchers who help clients make sound decisions about environmental management.

The tournament plans to set green event benchmarks by developing a comprehensive carbon footprint event analysis, taking the initiative to power the event with 100% renewable energy, and implementing  a zero waste program with education of spectators, players and vendors about the benefits of going green in their daily business and personal spaces.

This initiative is an extension of efforts made at the 2011 Allianz Championship, which was the first PGA Champions Tour event ever played on a GEO-certified course. Broken Sound Club is the first golf facility in Florida and only the second in the United States to achieve the GEO Certified award, an international sustainability assurance from the Golf Environment Organization.

“This is truly an ambitious, one-of-a-kind collaboration in sustainability,” said Allianz Championship Tournament Director Ryan Dillon. “We’re committed to ‘greening’ this event through a variety of channels including water use, energy and carbon footprint, environmental quality, landscape and ecosystems, and reducing travel and transportation mileage to and from the site for vendor staging, player transportation and event-goer transportation.”

As the first tournament on the early-season Florida swing of the PGA Champions Tour, the Allianz Championship is collaborating closely with the International Green Energy Council (IGEC), Golf Environment Organization (GEO), the City of Boca Raton, the PGA Champions Tour and Allianz Life, the tournament’s title sponsor and founding sponsor of the 2012 green initiative. The tournament’s green initiative is an extension of programs already being conducted by Allianz. For example, Allianz Life was recently recognized for the second straight year with the prestigious Energy Star designation for its campus in Golden Valley, Minn., putting it in the top nine percent of similar-size buildings nationwide. Parent company Allianz SE has developed around 70 products and services that help mitigate climate change or take environmental impact into account. 

“Allianz Life and our parent company Allianz SE are committed to green initiatives within our business practices and celebrate the efforts of the Allianz Championship to take the concept of a truly green event to the next level,” said Nancy Jones, chief marketing officer for Allianz Life. "We hope these actions serve as inspiration to other large events and a blueprint for how environmental sustainability goals can be achieved."

Carbon Offset Program to Make Boca Raton Greener

The tournament will use a per-mile carbon offset fee generated from all players, vendors and attendees for travel by air and car to enhance the greening of Boca Raton. The total amount of these carbon offset fees will be used to buy trees for planting throughout the City of Boca Raton.

“There is so much potential to bring real world sustainability initiatives into direct contact with thousands of people through golfing events,” noted Jonathan Smith, Chief Executive of the Golf Environment Organization expressing his support for the initiative. “At the Allianz Championship, we see a precedent-seeking, committed golf event and active venue, engaging with other event stakeholders to generate actions that will make a tangible difference while enhancing the reputations of all involved. We’re delighted that this trailblazing initiative will unfold at a GEO Certified™ venue, and that some of the pioneering work we have been undertaking around the Ryder Cup has provided a strong and effective model for the delivery of this exciting leadership program.”

The Allianz Championship Invites More Green Partners to Launch A Legacy

The Allianz Championship is seeking additional partners, vendors, sponsors, exhibitors and volunteers that are committed to corporate social responsibility, sustainability, the environment, green technology, corporate governance and community development to share in this groundbreaking collaboration.

To learn more about the Allianz Championship partnering opportunities, contact Anthony Greco at agreco@allianzchampionship.com or call 561-241-GOLF(4653).

About The Allianz Championship:
In addition to bringing the legendary champions of golf to Boca Raton for a celebrated week-long PGA Champions Tour event, the Allianz Championship will be driving all net proceeds to Boca Raton Regional Hospital. The Old Course at Broken Sound in Boca Raton, Florida will play host to the event February 6-12, 2012. The Allianz Championship, with a purse of $1.8 million, is the Champions Tour’s first tournament of the early-season Florida swing with the Golf Channel televising live all three rounds of the Championship. Visit www.allianzchampionship.com for updates, to purchase VIP tickets, and learn more about sponsorship and volunteer opportunities.

About Broken Sound Club:
Broken Sound is considered one of the premier golf course communities in Palm Beach County, FL. It features resort-style, country club living in 28 private villages and has 23 tennis courts, a state-of-the-art fitness/spa center, aquatic area, dining facilities and two of the finest golf courses in South Florida. The original Broken Sound Club, now affectionately known as “The Old Course", was founded in 1978 and designed by Joe Lee.  It will host the Allianz Championship. Gene Bates completed a redesign of The Old Course in January 2004. The Old Course features an abundance of trees unique to South Florida and rolling fairways that give it a feel similar to courses in the Pinehurst, NC area. It includes the largest stand of natural Florida maples trees in the county. The Club Course, another Lee design, was opened in 1985 and also recently renovated by Bates. Broken Sound is located on the north side of Yamato Road on Old Course Way between Congress Avenue and Military Trail.

About Golf Environment Organization:
GEO is a stakeholder-funded, non-profit organization, dedicated to helping golf become a leader in sustainable sport and business; universally valued for positive environmental and social contributions. GEO Certified™ is the most credible, comprehensive, constructive ecolabel for golf. GEO works with golf, government and environmental organizations worldwide, including The European Tour, UNEP, The R&A, EGA, EGCOA, BIGGA, FEGGA, PGA of Europe, EIGCA, the Club Manager Associations of America, Europe and China and numerous golf federations. 

About The International Green Energy Council:
The IGEC is an International association comprised of individuals and companies that promote “Green” (sustainable) forms of energy production, renewable energy sources, and sustainable design practices and advanced thinking in utilizing education and information for the promotion of being better stewards of our environment.

About The Smart Group:
Comprised of ecologists, scientists, educators, academic researchers, and thinkers, The Smart Group collaboratively uses diversity of technical expertise in a team approach to develop ideas, recommendations, and solutions that are well-rounded, practical, and meaningful to their clients and to the environment.  The firm strives to be a catalyst for positive change for individuals, businesses and communities by capitalizing on innovative practices that drive sustainability. The Smart Group uses sound science to help clients make decisions about environmental management today that won’t compromise the ability of tomorrow’s generations to meet their own needs.

 About Boca Raton Champions Golf Charities:
The Boca Raton Champions Golf Charities (BRCGC) is a year-round 501 (c) 3 nonprofit organization; its board serves as the operational and financial oversight group for the annual Allianz Championship as well as the oversight group for the distribution of all charitable funds. All net tournament proceeds will benefit Boca Raton Regional Hospital with other independent PGA-related fundraising initiatives offered to all South Florida nonprofits such as its Birdies Fore Charity. Champions Tour events generate significant sums of money for charity; the three tours of the PGA and their tournaments reached the $1.5 billion mark in charitable, more than all other professional sports combined.

About Boca Raton Regional Hospital:
Serving the community since 1967, Boca Raton Community Hospital has 400 beds and more than 700 primary and specialty physicians with privileges. Areas of expertise include cancer, cardiovascular disease & surgery and women’s health. Proceeds from this year’s Allianz Championship will support the Ron & Kathy Assaf Center for Excellence in Nursing at Boca Raton Regional Hospital. With our country facing a nursing shortage of unheard of proportions, this initiative becomes an extremely important tool in our mission to attract and retain the highest caliber nursing staff in the country and to help our nurses discover a myriad of personal and professional opportunities, including scholarships that support their professional growth. For almost half a century, philanthropy has been an integral component of Boca Raton Regional Hospital’s success. Today, community support is more important than ever. For more information about the Foundation and its fundraising initiatives that support the mission of Boca Raton Regional Hospital, please call 561-955-4142.

About Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America:
Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America has been keeping its promises since 1896. Today, it carries on that tradition, helping Americans achieve their retirement income goals with a variety of annuities and life insurance products. A leading provider of fixed index annuities, Allianz Life is part of Allianz SE, a global leader in the financial services industry with nearly 155,000 employees worldwide. Based on its revenue, Allianz SE is the 20th largest company in the world (Fortune Global 500, August 2010).

Allianz Championship

Allianz Championship

The Allianz Championship is a PGA Champions Tour event located at Broken Sound Club in Boca Raton, Florida. All net proceeds from the event go to Boca Raton Champions Golf Charities and will benefit the Boca Raton Regional Hospital.

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