Golf courses can be wonderful havens for all kinds of wildlife. Birds, pollinators (bees), amphibians, and mammals are increasingly calling golf courses “home”. Why is this, and how do we know it is true? Wildlife Links is a joint research venture between the USGA and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. Established in 1995, Wildlife Links is golf’s first comprehensive investigation into the relationship between golf courses and wildlife. The USGA has funded more than twenty Wildlife Links research projects, committing more than $750,000. These research projects range from bird conservation, golf course wetlands management, amphibian, burrowing owl and native pollinator conservation, to establishing corridors for the rare South Florida Atala butterfly.

Did you know that one of the main reasons so many people love to play golf is that it provides them with an opportunity to be close to nature and wildlife? It’s true, and there are many things golfers can do to help ensure that golf courses remain a haven for wildlife. You can make sure that your golf course is doing all it can to protect and conserve wildlife by making your voice heard. Speak to the golf course superintendent and course officials and let them know that the environmental quality of the golf course is important to you. Encourage your golf course to become a member of the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program for Golf Courses (www.audubonintl.org) and volunteer to serve on an environmental committee. Sometimes all it takes is one person to influence the acts of so many others.

*Count affected by very cold, windy weather

In all, 78 different species and 4392 individual birds were counted on all nine golf courses. Some of the highlights of the birds identified were yellow-belly sapsuckers, killdeer, wild turkeys, least sandpipers, blue-gray gnatcatchers, American gold finches, Yellow-rumped warblers, eastern bluebirds, hooded mergansers, rufous-sided towhees, and a cooper hawk. These golf course counts covered small acreage, and had only one person counting for a four to five hour period per course.

Pinehurst is not only famous for its golf courses. They are partially responsible for bringing the endangered red-cockaded woodpeckers back from the brink of extinction. They wanted to create additional habitat for this woodpecker, but at the time you were limited in what you could do within a half-mile radius of a nesting cavity of this endangered species. This meant they might be hurting adjoining landowners by also limiting them with what they could do on their properties. Pinehurst staff worked with the Environmental Defense Fund to create an agreement that would protect the woodpecker and not penalize surrounding landowners. The program, called “Safe Harbor”, states that landowners who agree to encourage the woodpeckers to nest were exempted from some future property restrictions and could in some cases even receive money for habitat enhancement. Today, in the Pinehurst area alone, 91 Safe Harbor agreements are supporting 56 groups of red-cockaded woodpeckers. Many of those that have signed Safe Harbor agreements are golf courses. The program expanded nationally in 1999, and over 300 private landowners are enrolled and are protecting 35 threatened and endangered species on almost 3.6 million acres of land. Sure, it took some work on Pinehurst’s part, but look at what they have been able to do by making the effort! Appropriately, the folks at Pinehurst wear a button that says, “Do What’s Right”.

To read more about what your golf course can do to protect the environment, order a copy of “Wildlife Links: Improving Golf’s Environmental Game”. This publication gives an overview of the first ten years of Wildlife Links research and is filled with practical information and advice that golf courses can apply. Copies are available through the USGA Order Department, 908-234-2300 and the publication number is PG5009.