One of the major talking points for the golf industry in the last 12 months has been sustainability. Despite this there are still major misconceptions around the subject, particularly when it comes to cost, performance and impact.

“Sustainability actually has three pillars,” explains Ed Sandison founder of sustainable golf brand OCEANTEE. “For a sustainable project or business to be successful it has to demonstrate economic, environmental and social impact.

“There are far too many companies dipping into sustainability for credibility’s sake, which makes no commercial sense and has no genuine impact. There are incredible businesses, organisations and not-for profits out there who are pioneering new technology which is enabling us and companies like us to create high performance products with great margin that are also sustainable.”

By taking this view, OCEANTEE has attracted the attention of organisations outside of golf and has been awarded for its efforts, most recently at The Global Good Awards. As well as congratulating OCEANTEE for making a significant impact on an industry described as ‘ripe for change’, the judges compared the potential impact of the company’s bamboo tee launch to the universal switch away from using plastic drinks straws.

As Best Start-Up Enterprise at the awards, OCEANTEE set new standards as the first sport brand to receive one of these prestigious awards.

Sustainability can be defined as providing for the present needs without compromising the needs of the future generations, and this simple premise was the starting point for OCEANTEE. All the company needed to do was find businesses who were able to create products that would help the industry move away from its obsession with virgin plastic.

Sometimes the use of plastic is obvious, as with plastic tees, but mostly it is surreptitious. Polyester, nylon and elastane are all plastic. Just by looking in your wardrobe you’ll see how easy it has been for us all to accept that these are the only fabrics that offer the performance and comfort characteristics that we need to enjoy our game.

By looking outside of the industry and working in conjunction with organisations like the Sustainable Angle, OCEANTEE has identified a raft of processes and fabrics that deliver the same if not better performance characteristics.

“The Sustainable Angle connect brands and designers with mills, suppliers and innovators in the fashion supply chain who produce sustainable fabrics and materials with a low environmental impact,” explained Sandison.

“They were able to help us make informed, commercial, decisions regarding our material choices.”

One business who has been instrumental in enabling OCEANTEE to deliver its ambitious clothing collection is UTENOS, a family owned manufacturing facility in Lithuania. This company is the perfect example of how a business can transform its processes to make sustainable business practices commercially viable and socially responsible.

One hundred per cent of its energy is green and comes from renewable sources, they only use natural fibres, the don’t use toxic chemicals – and that is to protect their workforce as much as it is to protect the wearer. This unique combination of transparent, sustainable business practices alongside fair pay and conditions for its workforce makes it the only factory in Europe to be accredited by Greenpeace.

The significance of working with pioneering business is two-fold for Sandison and his team. As well as having access to incredible innovative process and market leading fabrics such as those created by LENZING – who produce the TENCEL branded Lyocell fibers with REFIBRA technology that won the Oceanic polo a series of awards – OCEANTEE is using its product range as a showcase for sustainability.

“Every product we make uses a brand new technology, unique to golf. The range has become our platform to show the industry what is achievable,” explains Sandison.

“Golf can be really introspective and somewhat risk averse, which is why we are happy to do the leg work! We know incredible organisations and individuals who are constantly evolving and developing new processes and products that are cost-effective and environmentally sound. All we need to do to support that third pillar of social impact is to drive demand and alter consumer behaviour.”

Another inspirational business that OCEANTEE is working with for a product launching in the New Year is Waste to Wear. Their mission is to relieve the planet of the plastic problem by innovating products made from recycled plastics, using traceable and transparent supply chains. They believe that ‘waste’ is only waste when we don’t do anything with it.

We all know that tonnes of plastic waste are being thrown away daily. However, Waste to Wear have developed a process that means that this plastic can actually be viable, eco-friendly and sustainable. They work with local communities around the world to collect plastic which is sent to a recycle plant to be cleaned, shredded, flaked and milled into usable pellets.

The pellets are melted and moulded before being extruded into yarn which is treated and becomes fabric. Sometimes the work and process that goes into developing sustainable fabrics goes unnoticed, but Waste to Wear want consumers to understand where their product has come from. Each product made using their fabrics has a QR code which customers can scan to track exactly which ocean the plastics used to create the fabric have been collected from.

On top of this you can see each step of how and where the product has been made and understand the difference you are making to the world as a result.

The importance of traceability is something that will become increasingly significant as the sustainability market grows as Sandison explains: “The sad reality is that a lot of brands are making unsubstantiated claims to recycle ocean plastic.

“It really worries me that consumers are happy to accept something as fact, when there is no traceability. Working with Waste to Wear gives me and my customers a level of confidence that should come as standard.”

As the original manufacturer of bamboo tees a lot of OCEANTEE’s success to date has been dependent upon re-educating people. As Sandison explains, the pandemic made this much easier than it would have been otherwise as governing bodies and golfers had time on their hands.

“Timing for us has been everything. In 2020 we were able to open doors and start conversations with people who would otherwise have been travelling around the world, delivering events. We were also unwittingly answering questions that they were already starting to ask about measures that they could take to address their environmental impact.”

To date, OCEANTEE bamboo tees have replaced less sustainable tees across the whole of the Ladies European Tour, at WPGA events, across the EuroPro Tour and at several European Tour events. Plans for 2022 will see this number increase and allow the team access to educate the next generation as they have done this year.

“Our proudest moment this year was finally delivering our first Sustainability Session at the Women’s Scottish Open. We want to demonstrate that change is achievable and the best way to do that is to connect with the younger generation.”