Help preserve the nature of the game. As a golfer, you play a key role in ensuring that golf courses continue to preserve the nature of the game for present and future generations. Watch for wildlife as you play and support your course’s efforts to provide habitat by participating in the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program. (Purple Martin houses being installed at Tiburon Golf Course, Naples, Florida)

Environmental stewardship and awareness comes from lots of places—including the golf community in Florida. For instance, Walt Disney World’s Palm and Magnolia Golf Courses hosted a bird watch in 2006 —with four teachers from Bay Meadows Elementary School participating. From Cormorants to Laughing Gulls, the team of twelve recorded over fifty bird species on the golf course. As part of this dedication to environmental appreciation and education, two months earlier that same staff from Walt Disney Golf visited that local elementary school to install purple martin houses (with the kids’ help) and give a presentation about the habitat, nesting, and feeding behaviors of birds in their area.

All of Walt Disney’s golf courses are working in partnership with Audubon International and in the local community to protect and enhance the nature of the game. This seemingly small example of outreach holds a simple lesson. Owners, managers, superintendents, staff, members, and golfers alike on golf courses throughout Florida have a role to play as environmental stewards. Birds and birdwatching can be intimately tied together with the ways golf courses are managed, and they add to the enjoyment of the game and show the value golf courses can have for the local community.

What can golfers, owners, and staff do to become better environmental stewards? Support environmentally-responsible golf course management. Get your golf course involved in the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program for Golf Courses. Look to play on golf courses that are managing habitat, water, and other resources in an environmentally responsible manner.

To see a list of certified golf courses in Florida and to learn more about what golfers can do, please visit www.GolfandEnvironment.org.