November 5, 2016

Greate Bay Country Club has been successfully re -certified by Audubon International for continuing to fulfill  the requirements of the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program for Golf Courses , which includes sustaining our natural resources and protecting the environment by adhering to “best management practices”.  Only 803 of the 15,372 golf courses in the United States are certified, which is about 5%.

Our original certification was awarded in 2009 and took us two years to complete. To achieve the original certification we documented our efforts to protect water resources, conserve water, maintain habitat for wild life, reduce pesticide usage, and provide outreach programs. To be re-certified, we are required to continue and improve upon these efforts, and have a third party review our documentation and practices.

Over the years we have hosted local groups to help with building bird houses and native bee homes, established wild flower areas, protected milkweed plants for the monarch butterflies, reduced our water usage, delineated no spray zones to protect water and wetlands, used biological methods to treat certain diseases and pests, increased our use of organic fertilizers and decreased our use of synthetics, etc.

Why is this important? It is important merely because of the misconceptions of the general public that all golf courses are toxic, water hogs, and unsustainable, which is damaging the reputation of the game of golf. Only through education, and detailed documentation, can we reverse this view.  Certification is one way that we can demonstrate that we are responsible to the environment, that we care about our natural resources and work to protect them, and that we are able and willing to make golf a game that can bring man and nature together without harming either.

I am proud of Greate Bay for its continued efforts to be an environmental steward, and I hope, as member, that you are too.