Golf Ireland has won the Transformation Award at the Sport Positive Awards 2026. The award recognises Drive the Green, Golf Ireland’s 2024-2027 National Sustainability Strategy, which is changing how golf on the island of Ireland looks after its land, resources and communities.
The Sport Positive Awards celebrate achievements across the global sports ecosystem in sustainability, resilience, equity and climate action. Winners were announced virtually on 6th October, alongside the Sport Positive Summit 2026, a leading global event run in collaboration with the UNFCCC and the International Olympic Committee.
From a competitive shortlist of more than 80 changemakers from around the world, 12 winners were honoured across a range of sports, countries and categories. An independent international judging panel assessed finalists on their environmental efforts, social impact, innovation and long-term strategic vision.
Golf Ireland was shortlisted alongside Sport Lisboa e Benfica (Portugal), State Farm Stadium (USA), Paddle Australia and YMCA Aquatic Events and Services (Australia).
“Drive the Green has changed how Golf Ireland works, from the boardroom to the course. Sustainability is now part of how we lead, how we support clubs and how we plan for the future of the game. Being recognised alongside some of the biggest names in world sport shows what a whole sport can do when it moves together.” said Golf Ireland CEO Mark Kennelly.
It was a standout day for Irish sport, with three of the 12 global awards coming to Ireland. Croke Park won Report of the Year for Winning the Breaking Ball, and Ulster GAA won the Community Initiative Award for its Sporting Nature Project.
Ann Courtney, Head of Sustainability, Golf Ireland, who presented Golf Ireland’s governance story at the Summit, said, “To be recognised on the global stage, against such strong international competition, is humbling. Above all, it gives credibility to the work clubs across Ireland have been doing, often quietly, for years. Every greenkeeper, club manager, volunteer and member who has taken part is helping make golf in Ireland a place where nature, community and the game grow stronger together. This award belongs to them. We know we have further to go, but this tells us we’re on the right path.”
Proof on the course
Golf Ireland believes that golf doesn’t sit alongside nature, it sits within it and so Drive the Green was launched in March 2024 to turn that mantra into action, club by club. At its heart is the free, expert-led Sustainability Leaders Programme, a “sustainability caddie” in every club’s bag, which now has 126 clubs engaged, a third of the island’s network.
Clubs engaged with the programme are already seeing real results:
- 77 clubs have had a full ecology audit, and more than 2,700 hectares of golf land have been assessed so far.
- 38 clubs secured €2.2m in EV charging grants. After its retrofit, Dundalk Golf Club cut its energy bills by around 75%.
- Killiney Golf Club now uses no mains water on its course.
This award follows Golf Ireland’s double success at the Federation of Irish Sport Awards in May 2026 where it was named Governing Body of the Year, and also won Best Initiative to Promote Sustainability in Sport for Drive the Green.
Thank you
Golf Ireland wishes to express its thanks to the clubs, greenkeepers, club managers and volunteers who have put Drive the Green into practice. Thanks also goes out to the National Sustainability Committee and the Golf Ireland Board for their leadership, the expert team of ecologists and sustainability consultants who work with clubs, Golf Ireland’s partners which include the GEO Foundation, the R&A, ATPI, the EPA, NPWS, Teagasc, SEAI, Sport Ireland and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, and finally Sport Positive and the judging panel.
For more on Golf Ireland’s sustainability work, visit https://www.golfireland.ie/
For the full list of Sport Positive Awards 2026 winners, visit https://awards.
2026 Sport Positive Awards Winners:
- Biodiversity Project: Honda Mobilityland Corporation
- Campaign of the Year: Sport Forever, Cricket for Climate
- Report of the Year: Croke Park
- Community Initiative: Ulster GAA: Sporting Nature
- Leadership: Richard Holmes
- Education and Training: Yachting New Zealand – RŪNĀ
- Inspired Innovation: German Sport University Cologne: Sustainable [Major] Sporting Events
- Next Generation Trailblazer: Ben Hardy-Jones
- Purpose-Led Partnership: Liverpool FC x Husqvarna
- Purpose-Led Partnership With a Non-Profit: Australian Football League x SisterWorks
- Research of the Year: Postcards From the Future: Polluted Sport in a Changing Climate
- Transformation: Golf Ireland – Drive the Green
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