It was announced in January that the Beaconsfield Golf Course would remain a Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary through the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program for Golf Courses (ACSP) for the second time in a row. The course thus remains in the select club of 816 golf courses across the world that has received the honour.
This came as a result of the club maintaining a high degree of environmental quality in environmental planning, wildlife and habitat management, outreach and education, chemical use reduction and safety, water conservation, and water quality management. The certification is renewed every three years and Beaconsfield obtained it first three years ago.
“It’s probably one of the most rewarding things we have accomplished, we have one person working 25 hours a week on the Audubon making sure things are intact,” said Doug Meyer, turf manager at Beaconsfield Golf Club.
To pass the test and be awarded the certification, a club has to enter a fairly lengthy process of self-evaluation. Everything on site such as the wildlife, water quality, grass and tree species must be evaluated. The certification requires not using pesticides in environmentally-reserved areas and checking for diseases on the turf to be able to lower pesticide use.
To avoid water contamination, buffer zones need to be created between fairways and water ways and no pesticides must be used 15 meters around the lakes. Testing the water must be done three to four times a year to make sure that there are no run-offs going into the water to ensure proper water quality.
Beaconsfield Golf Club gets green stamp – Local – News – The Chronicle.