The First Step Towards Environmental Excellence

To see how your golf course can start to move towards environmental excellence take a look at my latest article at www.insidegolf.ca/107781/357/1/1

Wanted:Golfers To Help Our Industry

Find out how golfers can help to relieve pressures put on superintendents by governments and an uneducated public by reading Rick's article at www.insidegolf.ca/content/view/107690/357/

New Company Helps Courses to Go Green

Former superintendent Rick Munro has opened a new business helping golf courses attain certification in the Audubon Cooperative Program for Golf Courses read more at www.insidegolf.ca/content/view/107100/998/

Aeration and Topdressing-Necessary Evils

If you have ever wondered why superintendents need to aerate and topdress putting greens read Rick' article at www.insidegolf.ca/content/view/106671/965/

Bear Mountain Moves Mountains...of Sand

Find out how the maintenance crew at Bear Mountain prepared the bunkers for the opening of the new Valley Course at www.insidegolf.ca/content/view/107305/360/

Pesticides and Golf: The Times, They Are A'Changin

Read Rick's Inside Golf article on legislation that may be coming to the golf industry and what golf course owners and superintendents can do about it at www.insidegolf.ca/content/view/106265/357/

A Call To Action

Find out how golfers can help with some of the maintenance practices at their golf course by reading Rick's article at www.insidegolf.ca/content/view/106998/357/

Minimalist Maintenance Practices at Duncan Meadows Produces Maximum Value

Read about the environmentally friendly conditions at Duncan Meadows Golf and Country Club, host of the 2009 British Columbia Amateur Championships, in Rick's Inside Golf article. www.insidegolf.ca/content/view/107499/357/

VIGSA Fights Multiple Sclerosis

To find out how Vancouver Island superintendents are doing their part in the battle against this terrible disease read Rick's Inside Golf article at www.insidegolf.ca/content/view/106761/399/

Augusta Syndrome

To view Rick's article "The Augusta Syndrome" from Inside Golf, please go to www.insidegolf.ca/content/view/106379/357/

In these times of economic uncertainty, business owners are looking for ways to save money while driving their business forward. Demonstrating environmental stewardship is a progressive way of accomplishing this. While maintenance of the golf course is the largest and most important expense for any property, cost savings can be realized by maintaining golf courses to internationally recognized environmental standards. The Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program for Golf Courses is a 6-step process structured to help golf course superintendents to maintain product quality while establishing and implementing a site-specific environmental plan that will reduce maintenance costs.

The environmental movement has gathered momentum over the past few years and it is not going to slow down. This has caused tremendous pressure from governments and the public for perceived harm against the environment on the part of golf courses. The golf industry must get on board to show what great stewards of the environment the industry has become. In order to survive in the 21st century it is imperative that golf course be regarded as environmental sanctuaries.

The main difficulty with the Audubon program is that it is a very time consuming process. A province wide survey of golf course superintendents revealed that one of the major factors preventing Audubon certification is a lack of time too plan, implement and document all that is required. Hiring Greenside to consult on the Audubon process and perform all of the documentation will eliminate this problem and save money. This allows the superintendent to concentrate on the day-to-day business of maintaining the golf course.