For nearly a decade, Audubon International has provided golf courses around the globe with an opportunity to quantify their respective impact on the environment and share their findings with golfers and non-golfers alike.
Through a partnership with BioBoost Nest and Seed King Enterprises, Audubon International's BioBlitz program is a wildlife-, insect life and plant life-inventory competition that helps superintendents count the species that call their golf course home. Interested superintendents can click here to register for the program that runs through June 15.
Those who register will receive a toolkit that will assist with the logistics of setting up the program and engaging golfing and non-golfing members of the community. The toolkit includes promotional materials, event instructions and resources for participants.
In its ninth year, the program also gives participants a chance to connect with members, golfers and the public to help in the species count, share findings and spread positive PR about the environmental stewardship work of superintendents. BioBlitz also can help document rare species or others not previously observed on property.
Some of the program's benefits are:
- Meet outreach and education certification and recertification requirements
- Demonstrate your property's environmental value to your community
- Contribute to assessments of biodiversity
- Observe and measure the trends and status of multiple species over time
Audubon International is a non-profit organization that offers certification and initiatives in a wide range of areas, including the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program for Golf Courses. Its board of directors includes golf industry professionals, such as Jim Pavonetti, CGCS at Fairview Country Club in Greenwich, Connecticut; David Robinson, CGCS, of Target Specialty Products; Jennifer Grant, Ph.D., entomologist at Cornell University; Henry DeLozier of GGA Partners; and Bryan Stromme of Century Golf Partners.
BioBoost Nest provides customers with a program that utilizes beneficial bacteria for pond remediation. Seed King Enterprises is a supplier of native grass and wildflower solutions for the golf and landscape industries.
In last year's competition, Southwinds Golf Course in Boca Raton, Florida, received the Community Engagement Award for the second straight year, while Naples (Florida) Lakes Country Club received the Biodiversity Award, with 370 species identified. The award for Best Photograph went to La Iguana Golf Course at Los Sueños Marriott Ocean & Golf Resort in Puntarenas, Costa Rica, for a photo of a three-toed sloth near a tee box.