Thanks to a grant by the FairWays Foundation, more than 100 golf courses nationwide joined Audubon International's Monarchs in the Rough program in 2025.
A total of 127 golf courses joined the program last year, bringing the total number of golf courses in the U.S. and Canada that are participating in the program to almost 1,000. Those courses currently are managing more than 1,300 total acres of out-of-play areas as pollinator-friendly habitat.
Monarchs in the Rough was started in 2018 by Audubon International and the Environmental Defense Fund, to help golf courses across North America create pollinator habitats in out-of-play areas to help boost declining populations. The USGA also became involved in the program in 2019.
"Golf courses continue their positive contribution to the habitat needed," Audubon International CEO Christine Kane said in a news release. "Monarchs in the Rough is an effective and powerful way for courses of all kinds to take part in increasing new habitat for these iconic and beautiful creatures. We're thrilled so many courses signed on in 2025, and we look forward to adding many more this year and well into the future."
Every course received a shipment of regionally appropriate milkweed seed and signage promoting the program, technical guidance and tips about how to communicate the program to members and golfers.
Tim McCann, director of greens and grounds maintenance at Harbour Ridge Golf and Yacht Club in Palm City, Florida, says he converted an acre from a former tee box location that had been moved.
"We've filled one of our beds with a lot of milkweed," McCann said. "It was an old tee that was moved to another location."
Established in 2019 by former Aquatrols president and CEO Matt Foster, the FairWays Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing conservation and environmental stewardship. By providing grants to both small and large-scale projects, the foundation addresses environmental challenges and supports educational initiatives worldwide.
Since its founding, the foundation has donated more than $1 million to more than 60 recipients.