City of Largo Awarded FTGA President’s Award

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Heather Russo, Association Manager

(863) 688-9413 or Heather@FTGA.org

City of Largo Awarded FTGA President’s Award

LAKELAND, Fla. (October 15, 2024): The Florida Turfgrass Association is pleased to announce that it has honored the City of Largo with the President’s Award for Environmental Stewardship, specifically for its Largo Golf Course. The award goes to an individual or facility that has excelled in environmental protection while serving as an advocate for sustainability in the turfgrass industry. The city’s advocacy includes promoting the message of environmental stewardship to their staff, their clients and their community. The award will be presented at the 71st Annual FTGA Conference in December.

FTGA President Pat Marsh says, ‘The teamwork and key strategic planning that went into this project is why the Largo Golf Course has been selected for the 2024 award. The many decisions made along the way to control chemical and fertilizer applications, partner with other agencies to build swales and plant aquatic plants both work to improve the water quality and create additional habitat along with continued training of everyone involved set an example for the rest of the industry and entered into our decision as well.”

Largo Golf Course maintains, enhances, tracks and reports scientific findings on its sustainability program with a goal of reducing contaminants in Church Creek which flows into McKay Creek and the Intercoastal Waterway. Operational procedures were changed to improve the area waterways through an ongoing sustainability program, and the city partnered with many state agencies and the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Pinellas County Extension Office.

The golf course immediately reduced chemical applications by 50 percent. It partnered with its Parks Department to create a bioswale to help slow and impede the flow of stormwater to better infiltrate the ground, to help mitigate excess nutrients from overflowing into the storm water system and into the bay, and to provide habitat and food for native pollinators.

In addition, the Largo Golf Course has made a concerted effort to utilize water management practices to rehabilitate the health of waterways. This program is part of the overall City of Largo Strategic Initiatives pertaining to sustainability. Its Recreation, Parks and Arts Department aligns its Department and Division goals to the overall city initiatives on an annual basis.

The City of Largo recruits and works to retain an innovative workforce that is motivated to exceed customer expectations while focusing on environmental stewardship and sustainability. The city encourages best management practices and other recurring training and supports membership in associations such as Florida Turfgrass Association.

The Florida turfgrass industry has a $5 billion economic impact in the state and provides about 84,000 jobs. FTGA, founded in 1952, advocates for and promotes the turfgrass industry with research, continuing education, and networking opportunities for turfgrass professionals. For more information, visit www.ftga.org.

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