With the 2025 WM Phoenix Open set to begin next week at TPC Scottsdale (Feb 3 – 9), tournament organizers are seeking a record ninth GEO Certification, a holistic international distinction for sustainability in golf awarded and assured by Scotland-based GEO Sustainable Golf Foundation.

To achieve GEO Certified® Tournament status, the WM Phoenix Open must complete a custom-built program for golf tournaments, including: document and evidence submission across a broad range of priority sustainability themes and action areas, a third-party verification carried out by the Council for Responsible Sport (the official verification body for GEO Certified® Tournaments in North America), and a thorough review by GEO Certification Ltd, a subsidiary of GEO Foundation, in addition to agreeing to a range of ‘Continual Improvement Points’ that outline opportunities for the tournament to further sustainability progress.

The 2017 WM Phoenix Open became the first GEO Certified® PGA TOUR event, and the tournament has been awarded GEO certification each year since, for a total of eight times. Since 2013, WM has pursued a zero-waste approach at the tournament by diverting materials from landfills through recycling, composting, donation, reuse and using materials to recover energy and create fuel.

Since the WM Phoenix Open earned its first certification in 2017, a number of other professional golf tournaments have embraced sustainable golf, supported or recognized by the GEO Foundation, including The Open, The TOUR Championship, The Ryder Cup, Solheim Cup, AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, the DOW Championship, Hero Dubai Desert Classic, Omega European Masters and more.

Sustainability highlights for the 2025 WM Phoenix Open tournament are expected to include:

• 100 percent landfill diversion through recycling, composting, donation, reuse and using materials to recover energy and create fuel.
• WM and the tournament host, The Thunderbirds, plan to implement water conservation measures, including through the collection of gray water from hospitality bars to be reused in portable toilets.
• WM and The Thunderbirds will continue to advance the tournament’s dual missions of leadership in sustainability and extraordinary charitable giving through the WM Phoenix Open Working For Tomorrow Fund^SM. In 2024, the fund’s first year, $419,000 was raised to fund projects that can benefit communities across Arizona, including water restoration projects through the Change the Course campaign, renewable energy initiatives taking place on Tribal Nations land, and projects to address hunger through Waste Not, an Arizona-based non-profit. In 2025, WM and The Thunderbirds are joined by 18 corporate sponsors that plan to support the WM Phoenix Open Working For Tomorrow Fund^SM.
• In an effort to help reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the tournament plans to purchase 100 percent renewable electricity through Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) from Arizona Public Service. In addition, most WM trucks used to haul tournament materials run on compressed natural gas (CNG), which offers a 90% reduction in NOx emissions compared to those fueled by diesel.
• WM will once again engage PGA TOUR players with the opportunity to balance their travel footprint.
• In year three of an initiative to help reduce plastic water bottle use, WM and The Thunderbirds give fans the opportunity to refill their water containers (free of charge) at the WM Green Scene located in the tournament’s Fan Zone.
• WM plans to work with Bold Reuse at the 2025 tournament to bring reusable cups to certain venues on the 16th and 18th holes, which could potentially help divert up to an estimated 32,000 single-use cups this year. The cups, which the tournament hopes to use year-after-year, are meant to be collected in dedicated reuse containers, washed and reused again.
• In addition to these environmental measures, the tournament has an enormous impact on the community as well, raising more than $142 million since 2010 for charities.

Outside of the WM Phoenix Open, WM continues to be a leader in driving sustainability in sports. In 2024, WM became the first Official Sustainability Partner for Major League Baseball. Through 2028, WM will have the opportunity to provide WM’s advisory services for all 30 MLB Clubs in the U.S. and Canada and expects to build custom plans designed to improve operations for MLB and its Clubs from a sustainability-related perspective. WM is also a “Sustainability Partner” of the PGA TOUR, working with other professional golf tournaments to pursue sustainability-related goals and helping the PGA TOUR analyze its environmental footprint and develop a phased plan intended to reduce GHG emissions across all its properties – from office buildings to golf tournaments. WM currently supports sustainability programs for four sports leagues, 24 venues, 11 golf tournaments, multiple large events and a variety of non-sports customers.

WM is now in its 16^th year as title sponsor of the Phoenix Open. For more information about how WM is helping other tournaments, venues and leagues with comprehensive sustainability programs, review the WM Advisory Services Sports and Entertainment Team deck.

ABOUT THE WM PHOENIX OPEN

The 2025 WM Phoenix Open will take place Feb. 3-9 at TPC Scottsdale. “The People’s Open” has been named Tournament of the Year by the PGA TOUR five times in acknowledgement of the tournament’s legendary status as one the most unique events in golf. It also has been recognized as one of the largest zero waste sporting events in the world for 12 consecutive years. The 2025 edition of the WM Phoenix Open will mark the 90th playing of the event. For more information, visit www.WMPhoenixOpen.com.

ABOUT GEO SUSTAINABLE GOLF FOUNDATION

GEO Sustainable Golf Foundation is an international not-for-profit dedicated to helping accelerate sustainability and climate action in and through golf. The organization works collaboratively across the amateur and professional parts of golf to help the sport embrace and address key environmental and social issues, so that it can become widely acclaimed for its role in fostering nature, conserving resources, strengthening communities and taking climate action. GEO provides the OnCourse® programs and solutions for sustainable golf facilities, new developments and tournaments, each of which can lead to the internationally accredited, endorsed and independently verified GEO Certified® label. Find out more at www.sustainable.golf.