Letter From Audubon International

Dear Mark,

Thank you for your continuing efforts to enhance wildlife habitat and protect environmental quality through the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program! Your commitment and positive attitude places you at the forefront of golf management.  Your experience is a valuable asset to others, and we hope you will share it as your schedule allows. 

Matt Taylor, Director of Golf Course Operations at Royal Poinciana Golf Club and Audubon Steward, was impressed with your golf course and facilities during his site visit this past June. He thought the course was an excellent example of how a golf course can provide wildlife habitat, and was especially impressed by native areas on the course. As a result of his helpful comments and observations during his site visit, we are pleased to recertify Stonebridge Country Club as a Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary.

Mr. Taylor was impressed with your continuing efforts to create naturalized areas on the golf course, which provide valuable water, food and habitat for local and migratory wildlife in the area. In particular, he noted that you supply plenty of native plant material in habitat areas and around water features. We were also pleased to hear that you plan to resurrect your nest box program with help from a local expert. You will find tips for nest box placement and construction in A Guide to Environmental Stewardship on the Golf Course, 2nd edition, which can access by logging on to your profile at www.auduboninternational.org. Let us know if you need additional assistance with this project.

Adding colorful wildflowers to natural areas is a great way to make these areas more aesthetically pleasing while also adding wildlife value to the course. We recommend visiting the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center (http://www.wildflower.org/explore.php) and searching the Native Plant Database by “Florida” and then by the particular habits (i.e., shrub, tree, vine, etc.): http://www.wildflower.org/collections/collection.php?all=true. From there, you can learn about each native plant’s bloom information, growing conditions, and wildlife benefit. You can also find local seed or plant nurseries using this site.

You have done a good job of providing wide (25’) no-spray zones around water features. Creating vegetative buffers around water features is a critical habitat component, especially for aquatic wildlife which use these areas for food, nesting, and cover from predation. Vegetative buffers are also valuable from a water quality perspective as they reduce erosion and filter runoff, minimizing impacts from golf course management practices. Where shorelines are directly in play, research has shown that 25’ bands of dense turf mowed to at least three inches high will help slow runoff, trap particles, and utilize excess fertilizer before it reaches the water. These filter strips should be maintained as no-spray zones, meaning no pesticides are sprayed and fertilizers are spoon-fed. Obviously, if a green lies within 25’ of a water feature, these guidelines will not be able to be followed. Every property is unique and we want to work with you to enhance your environmental program given your constraints.

Your pest management methods are good, and we applaud your use of scouting and setting thresholds for turf diseases and pests. This is a critical component of integrated pest management and contributes heavily to enhanced water quality and the beauty of the course. Mr. Taylor noted that you use cultural practices as part of your regular golf course maintenance, including reducing compaction and turf stress and adjusting mowing heights as needed. The reviewer also noted that you are working toward installing a new recycled wash water system, which we were very pleased to hear! Mr. Taylor reported that you have also budgeted for additional aerators for your water features, which create oxygen and reduce algae growth. Keep up the great work!

Mr. Taylor noted that your efforts to use water more efficiently are enhanced by your careful attention to weather patterns, targeted irrigation heads, and routine irrigation system maintenance. Water consumption may be further reduced or eliminated through the use of moisture meters that indicate the specific areas where additional irrigation is needed.

We applaud your efforts to engage club members, employees, and the community through your ACSP display and signs in the clubhouse and on the property. Mr. Taylor reported that you have a number of projects planned, including creating a new display after the clubhouse’s renovations are finished and providing wildlife walks in conjunction with members. We were also thrilled to hear that employees are trained on Best Management Practices for golf courses.  You may be interested in purchasing one of our brand-new official Audubon International Certified Property signs, available for a low introductory price at our online store: https://www.auduboninternational.org/promotions-products. 

Other ideas for increasing your outreach and education efforts include installing educational signage around natural areas. These signs can simply say that the area is an environmentally sensitive zone, or it can detail a particular native species found in the naturalized area. Other members have had success with providing displays about ACSP activities, brochures of their involvement with the program, and newsletter articles to membership that describe projects. We have also seen members provide binders of ACSP recommended golf course management practices, such as the benefits of tall grass naturalization, the importance of protecting water quality, and more. These recommendations can all be found in fact sheets in our online resource library at: www.auduboninternational.org/factsheets. You can find additional ideas on our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/AudubonInternational. You can also draw inspiration from our quarterly online publication of Stewardship News, and from our Success Stories section on our website: https://www.auduboninternational.org/success-stories. 

Information on a variety of topics, including how to implement environmental projects and species information is provided in the Resources section of the member-only website and in A Guide to Environmental Stewardship on the Golf Course, 2nd edition, which was sent to you previously. Log in to the member-only website from our website at www.auduboninternational.org using your email address. You can also upload digital documents and photos, saving both paper and postage.

There are now over 2,200 golf courses enrolled in the program and 906 are currently designated as a Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary.  Thanks for setting such a fine example for others to follow! We look forward to another successful year and are glad to know that Stonebridge Country Club will continue to be part of that success.

Sincerely,

Laura

Laura K. Karosic

Audubon International 

http://www.auduboninternational.org