CABOT COLLECTION
THE FAIRWAYS FOUNDATION COULD HELP FUND YOUR PROJECT
CEO CORNER
Reaching Out And Growing The Mission
Our members are the lifeblood of Audubon International, and with your help and partnership, we continue to quicken and strengthen the pulse of sustainable best practices at golf courses, hotels, resorts, communities, and municipalities around the world. We’re working together to circulate our mission to wider extremities of where we live, work, and play. A big part of this healthy circulation increase is our continued outreach and education effort–an important element of every certification program we offer. As we move together through autumn and toward a new year of possibility and growth, we’re happy to report that we’re raising our media and community profiles on several fronts:
Awards — In August, Audubon International received a Green Apple Award for Environmental Practice in Education & Training from The Green Organisation, an international, independent, non-political non-profit entity dedicated to recognizing, rewarding, and promoting environmental best practices around the world. Audubon International is among a fraction of more than 1,200 total entries to receive this year’s award after submitting an in-depth application highlighting its various certification programs including Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary for Golf and Business, Green Lodging/Green Hospitality, Signature Sanctuary, and Sustainable Communities. Read more about the awards in this issue’s News Briefs.
Walking the Walk — Also in August, Audubon International led 49 organizations meeting Travalyst’s criteria for lodging industry sustainability certification through its Green Lodging and Green Hospitality Programs. Travalyst was founded in 2019 by Prince Harry as a not-for-profit coalition of some of the biggest brands in travel and technology including Booking. com, Expedia Group, Google, Skyscanner, Travelport and Trip.com Group. The coalition works to bring sustainability information to the forefront to help travelers make more informed choices on where they spend their dollars. We’re honored to see our lodging and hospitality programs get the recognition they deserve.
Deepening Longtime Partnerships — Now that Audubon International has been around for more than three decades, our longest-tenured certified partners are reaching big milestones, too, which helps raise awareness of what we do. Many ACSP for Golf partners are marking 10, 20 and even 30 years of certification. On the Green Lodging front, major hospitality companies continue to mandate that their properties strive for certification, including Marriott and Ritz-Carlton, while our portfolio of certified Sustainable Communities continues to grow as well, led by the Landings at Skidaway Island near Savannah, Georgia, Amelia Island in Florida, Stowe Mountain Resort and Spruce Peak in Vermont, and several South Carolina partners including Town of Hilton Head, Seabrook Island, and Oldfield.
Media Matters — We’re constantly looking to build new partnerships with respected media outlets and other non-profit organizations to help us get the word out about what we’re up to and how we’re changing public attitudes toward stewardship practices in business, especially the golf and lodging industries. Over the past couple of years we’ve contributed editorial to print and online publications such as Hotel Executive, Boardroom Magazine, PGA GM Magazine, Club + Resort, Today’s Hotelier and others.
Events and Conventions — The winter season is “ground zero” for major industry gatherings, and Audubon International always looks forward to connecting with leaders like you who know and appreciate the value of sustainable best practices. Already on our calendar for early 2025 are the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America Conference in San Diego, Club Management Association of America World Conference & Club Business Expo in Tampa, and the PGA Franklin Club Leadership Summit in Lake Oconee, Georgia. In the Winter 2025 issue of Stewardship News we’ll have even more info on where to meet us on the road.
To all our partners across every certification program, thank you for your continued commitment to the Audubon International mission, and your shared passion for helping keep our earthly home healthy.
CEO, Audubon International
www.auduboninternational.org
518.767.9051 | Toll-free 1.844.767.9051
Audubon International Headquarters 120 Defreest Drive, Troy, NY 12180
STAFF
Christine Kane , Chief Executive Officer christine@auduboninternational.org
Elizabeth Ryan, Chief Operating Officer liz@auduboninternational.org
Frank LaVardera, Director, Environmental Programs for Golf frank@auduboninternational.org
Mark O'Mell, Director, Signature Sanctuary Certification mark@auduboninternational.org
Greg Poirier, Director, Green Lodging/Green Hospitality Certifications greg@auduboninternational.org
Fred Realbuto, Green Lodging Program Manager fred@auduboninternational.org
Scott Turner, ACSP Certification Manager scott@auduboninternational.org
Tallis Warren, Member Services Manager tallis@auduboninternational.org
Sarah Honan, Environmental Program Manager sarah@auduboninternational.org
Kelsey King, Environmental Program Manager kelsey@auduboninternational.org
Jill Moore, Sustainable Communities Program Manager jill@auduboninternational.org
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Henry DeLozier, Chairman
Rich Katz, Vice Chairman
Marvin Moriarty, Secretary
Henry Wallmeyer, Treasurer
JC Chi
Ruth Engle
Jennifer Grant, Ph.D. Rick Lohman
Jim Pavonetti, CGCS
Jake Riekstins
David Robinson, CGCS
James Singerling, CCM
Bryan Stromme
STEWARDSHIP
Vic Williams, Editor & Designer
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BioBlitz 2024 Contest Winners
Meet Audubon International’s New Board Members
Board Member Pavonetti Honored by GCSAA
Audubon International Wins Green Apple Award
Apes Hill Continues Green Commitment
Green Lodging/Green Hospitality Makes Travalyst Grade
Solmar Golf Links Retains ACSP Certification
HowCHAIRMAN’S
CORNER
Sustainability is Good Business
gratifying it is to arrive at the gate of a resort community or private club to see proud self-recognition of “Audubon International Certified Sanctuary.” Living in or near one of our 1,000+ sanctuaries is important to those who chose to do so. Sustainability is – in fact – a highly sustainable business proposition for three important reasons.
• First, when nine in ten (91%) of home purchase decisions are made by women, according to Martha Barletta in her 2002 book entitled Marketing to Women: How to Increase Your Share of the World's Largest Market, it’s a top priority among women. Sustainability is good business.
• Second, hospitality segments benefit from sustainability. In June 2022, John D. Burns of Hospitality Technology Consulting reminded newsletter readers, “Sustainability has been a buzzword in the hotel industry for a dozen years, maybe longer. Truthfully though, it has been more marketing jargon than an active commitment to minimizing our impact on the environment. But that’s changing.” Hospitality venues – whether resorts or private clubs – do well when they demonstrate their commitment to sustainability.
• Third, environmental sensitivity and sustainable communities drive greater property values within sustainable sanctuary communities when compared to nearby residential communities that are not committed to environmental sustainability, in the eyes of developers and homebuilders.
Sustainable sanctuaries have been a cornerstone at Audubon International since the launch of the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Certification Program (ACSP) began. Creating safe havens – whether for residential living or resort getaways – is good business.
Christine Kane, Audubon’s CEO says, “These members have demonstrated their commitment to environmental stewardship by completing our multifaceted certification process thereby reducing water and chemical usage, increasing wildlife habitat areas, and more.”
Audubon International offers five sustainable certifications for businesses, golf courses, hotels, resorts, and communities. Attaining certification is achievable and very much worthy of the effort. The certification program represents the best thinking of Audubon International’s team of sustainability experts supported by a Board of Directors who hail from academia, sustainable design, property managers, and golf course superintendents. All know that sustainability is good business.
To be designated for certification, your team will develop and implement an environmental management plan and document the results. Once confirmed by a site visit from an Audubon International representative, that you've met the environmental management standards in each area, certification is awarded. Recertification is required every three years to maintain your Certified Sanctuary designation.
The view of America’s first citizens, as expressed through the teaching of tribal elders is, “We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children.” Sustainability is good business.
Henry Delozier, Chairman of the Board
Meet The BioBlitz 2024 Contest Winners
Month-long event documents large diversity of species living on golf courses
Recently, Audubon International announced the winners in several categories for its 8th Annual BioBlitz competition, sponsored by BioBoost Nest.
The popular event played out May 18-June 17 across the United States, Canada, and Latin America as hundreds of nature lovers of every stripe, from club members to school kids to local environmental groups, came together to observe more than 2,000 species of flora and fauna thriving on Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary for Golf-certified and member courses.
“Last year’s return of this popular competition set the stage for an even more successful event in 2024,” said Christine Kane, CEO at Audubon International. “We continue to attract strong participation from our member courses, who once again brought their communities together to identify the amazing wealth of wildlife in their natural habitats and learn why golf courses are proven, committed leaders in environmental stewardship. We salute every winner and value everyone who took part in a month of science-based fun.”
“Sponsoring BioBlitz is a natural fit for our company,” added Jody Fitzpatrick, CEO of BioBoost Nest. “We provide an eco-friendly system for managing ponds that is increasingly popular with golf courses committed to environmental sustainability. Our golf course customers embrace their role in preserving green spaces with low-chemical approaches that foster biodiversity.”
Southwinds Golf Course in Boca Raton, FL, received the Community Engagement Award for the second straight year, with 225 people participating in its BioBlitz event. Wilmington Country Club in Wilmington, DE, nabbed second place while Glencoe Golf Club in Glencoe, IL, repeated its thirdplace honor from 2023.
“Our team is extremely environmentally conscious and as a result endeavors to engage all in our golfing community in environmental stewardship,” said Sharon Painter, Southwind’s Manager. “Not only do we try to foster a sense of ownership and responsibility, but we can also empower folks from our youngest junior golfers to the most senior, to take meaningful actions that contribute to the health and sustainability of our golf course and planet.” Painter added that this year’s installation of bee hives creating honey from plant sources on the golf course
Best Photograph Winner: Three-toed sloth, La Iguana Golf Course, Puntarenas, Costa Rica (Photo by Yaudicio Araya)
has spurred positive awareness and “buzz” in the community. Honey sales have gone beyond the reach of the golf course and are also a focal point in their summer junior camps and clinics.
Naples Lakes Country Club in Naples, FL, received this year’s Biodiversity Award, with 370 species identified. Second place for Biodiversity went to Niagara Parks Commission Whirlpool Golf Course in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, with 358 species sighted. The University of Maryland Golf Course in College Park, MD, took third place with 262 species logged.
The award for Best Photograph went to La Iguana Golf Course at Los Sueños Marriott Ocean & Golf Resort in Puntarenas, Costa Rica, for Yaudicio Araya’s stunning capture of a three-toed sloth posing near a tee box. The University of Maryland course also scored in this category, taking second place for hawk and bluejay by Phillip S. DeShong. Another Latin American participant, Twin Dolphin Golf Club in Los Cabos, Mexico, took third place for its “bee and cocoon” entry.
“At La Iguana Golf Course, we believe in harmonizing sport and nature. Our recent BioBlitz event was a testament to this vision,” says José Quesada, PGA Director of Golf. “The astonishing array of
wildlife and biodiversity we discovered highlights the importance of appreciating and conserving these natural treasures. Together, let’s continue to celebrate and protect the incredible ecosystems that coexist with our favorite game.”
To learn more about BioBlitz and how golf courses, communities, lodging properties and resorts gain recognition for their environmental efforts, visit www.auduboninternational.org.
Second Place Photograph Winner: Hawk and bluejay, University of Maryland Golf Course (Photo bhy Phillip S. DeShong)
Third Place Photograph Winner: Bee and cocoon, Twin Dolphine Golf Club, Los Cabos, Mexico
Meet New Audubon International Board Members
Audubon International announces the addition of two golf industry executives to its Board of Directors: Rick Lohman, Senior Director of Corporate Accounts for The Toro Company, and Ruth Engle, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for Troon Golf.
As at-large board members, Lohman and Engle will lend their expertise and respected standing in the golf and business communities to further Audubon International’s core mission and execute its strategic plan.
Lohman joined Toro in 1989 and has served in various sales and sales management positions focused primarily in the golf industry. As Sr. Director of Corporate Accounts, he is responsible for management of Toro’s corporate account business including national accounts, corporate alliances and partnerships.
Lohman is a native of Washington State and holds a B.S. degree in Agricultural Economics from Washington State University and an MBA from the University of Phoenix. He is actively involved in the golf industry and has served in various capacities including vice president of the Golf Course Builders Association of America. He also currently serves as a board member of the GCBAA Foundation.
“For over three decades, I have dedicated my career to the golf industry, witnessing its evolution and contributing to its growth,” Lohman said. “As a proud
member of Audubon International, I am dedicated to supporting the organization's mission in every way possible. This includes advocating for sustainable practices within the golf industry, collaborating with fellow professionals to share knowledge and best practices, and participating in initiatives that promote environmental education and awareness.”
Engle joined Troon Golf in 2007 as Executive Vice President/Chief Financial Officer after serving as vice president and controller of the aerospace division of Honeywell International. During her time at Honeywell, she also held vice president and CFO positions over three leading divisions.
Engle leads the Troon team in shaping business and fiscal strategy and process to drive the best sustainable financial outcomes for Troon and its clients. She holds an MBA in finance from Fairleigh Dickinson University and a BA in Mathematics from Lafayette College.
“It is certainly an honor to be selected to serve on the board of Audubon International,” Engle sid. “At Troon, we embrace modern golf management practices that prioritize the harmonization of this special game with the environment in which it operates, promoting environmental stewardship and sustainability. There has never been a better time to push forward our aligned interests in an increasingly impactful way. I look forward to contributing to that endeavor.”
Board Member Pavonetti Honored by GCSAA
The awards continue to pile up for Jim Pavonetti, superintendent at ACSP for Golf Certified Fairview Country Club in Greenwich, Connecticut and a member of Audubon International’s Board of Directors.
Pavonetti was named a winner in the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America’s Environmental Leaders in Golf Awards program, in the Natural Resource Conservation category. It was the second first-place award for Pavonetti
Other winners are Mark Claburn of Tierra Verde Golf Club in Arlington, Texas, who won the Communications and Outreach Award; Kevin Ackerman of Royal Wood and Country Club in Naples, Florida, winner of the Innovation Conservation Award; and Steven Tierney, MG, at Golfpark Zurichsee in Wangen, Switzerland, who received the Healthy Land Stewardship Award.
hood to eliminate reliance on potable water. Regular testing at Fairview shows that waster leaving the course is cleaner than when it enters.
On the golf course, Pavonetti has expanded areas for native plants and pollinators, buffer zones and no-spray areas, bat boxes and bluebird nesting sites.
Pavonetti was the 2023 ELGA Innovative Conservation Award recipient and was the first runner-up for the 2018 and 2019 Natural Resource awards and the 2021 and 2022 Innovative Conservation awards.
"It really is a nice honor to finally begin to break through the runner-up places in these awards," Pavonetti said. "We try to improve every year, so I guess we are finally getting over the hump."
In 2018 the ELGAs were updated to recognize more superintendents in more focused areas of environmental sustainability.
Among his conservation efforts at Fairview are plans to cut water use by 20 percent. The course uses a combination of surface water from catch ponds and effluent water from the course and neighbor-
"Sustainability, best management practices and environmental stewardship are vital pieces to keeping golf a great sport and pastime for millions of people across the globe," Pavonetti said. "I am continuously looking to improve personally and professionally, especially when it comes to environmental stewardship."
In addition to joining Audubon International’s board of directors in July, last year Pavonetti was named to the Greenwich Sustainability Committee that includes a cross section of stakeholders that includes engineers, local leaders and residents. He lends his expertise to others and how the efforts of superintendents in the Greenwich area and throughout Connecticut can be a resource for other entities on their respective path toward environmental stewardship.
"Being recognized as a leader in this industry is such an honor. This has been a collective effort that includes the entire staff here, and I am thrilled how others view these accomplishments through this awards program. My hope is that the surrounding communities of these great golf courses learn and appreciate what green spaces and golf courses bring to their neighborhoods."
This story incorporates elements from reporting on The Golf Wire and information provided by the GCSAA.
Audubon International Wins Green Apple Award for Environmental Practices
Overthe summer, Audubon International was thrilled to be named a recipient of the 2024 Green Apple Award for Environmental Practice from internationally recognized environment group The Green Organisation.
Established in 1994, The Green Organisation is an international, independent, non-political non-profit entity dedicated to recognizing, rewarding, and promoting environmental best practices around the world. Audubon International is among a fraction
and training as part of their rigorous standards. We are humbled to be included in such respected company. This recognition will help us keep expanding our mission internationally.”
The Green Apple Awards were the first to be accredited as an official feeder into the European Business Awards for the Environment, and it is now the only official feeder program into the Green World Awards, which are held in a different country every year. Previous Green Apple Award winners have gone
of more than 1,200 total entries to receive this year’s Green Apple Award after submitting an extensive application highlighting its various certification programs including Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary for Golf and Business, Green Lodging/Green Hospitality, Signature Sanctuary, and Sustainable Communities.
Examples of how these programs benefit Audubon International partners and further the organization's mission were included in the application. Among them were a testimonial from Jim Pavonetti, Audubon International board member and longtime Director of Golf Course and Grounds at Fairview Country Club in Greenwhich, Conn., and features on the Sustainable Communities and Green Lodging programs on Amelia Island in Florida and Marriott Vacations Worldwide's Green Lodging/Green Hospitality certification efforts.
Audubon International and all awardees are officially honored at Kensington Palace in West London, England, on Nov. 18.
“This is a truly great honor for our organization, members, and certified partners,” said Audubon International CEO Christine Kane. “It puts an important spotlight on our vetted, third-party certification programs, all of which strongly emphasize education
on to win European and World Awards, and many have taken on the status of International Green World Ambassadors by working with others around the world to help the environment.
“We started off in 1994 just for local authorities,” said Mark Wolens, founder of The Green Organisation. “But like topsy, the whole scheme just grew. We started getting inquiries from overseas and introduced the international awards. Part of the reason for its popularity is that it’s free to enter. There are gold, silver, and bronze awards, and we welcome the opportunity to recognize and reward everyone who’s doing something for the environment.”
“This is truly a great honor for our organization, members, and certified partners. We are humbled to be included in such respected company.”
— Christine Kane
Apes Hill Barbados Continues Eco-Commitment
ApesHill Barbados, a luxurious golf resort and community, seamlessly blends world-class amenities with the island's natural beauty—with a commitment to environmental stewardship only enhancing the experience.
Earning Audubon International ACSP for Golf Certification in 2023, the resort's 18-hole championship golf course, designed by renowned golf architect Ron Kirby, recently debuted at No. 72 on Golfweek’s 2024 “Top 100 International Courses” list.
Perched 1,000 feet above sea level within 475 acres of natural terrain, the course is a masterpiece of design and sustainability. It was ranked fifth in Golfweek’s 2024 "Top 50 Courses You Can Play" in the Caribbean, Mexico, Costa Rica, and the Atlantic Islands. The course's ingenious layout and commitment to environmental stewardship, including an advanced irrigation system and sustainable fertilization practices, have earned it accolades to augment its ACSP for Golf certification, including the title of “World’s Best Eco-Friendly Golf Facility” at the 2023 World Golf Awards.
Dining at Apes Hill is a culinary journey that emphasizes fresh, locally sourced ingredients. The on-site restaurants, the 20th Hole and Noisy Cricket, pride themselves on a farm-to-fork menu,
utilizing produce from the resort’s own farm, which grows herbs, edible flowers, bananas, breadfruit trees, and honey. This commitment to sustainability is a core value that permeates every aspect of life at Apes Hill.
Wellness is central to the Apes Hill experience, with state-of-the-art facilities that include a soonto-be-completed fitness center, health club, and wellbeing treatments. Residents and guests can participate in yoga sessions, boot camps, and personalized training with certified instructors. The resort's luxurious accommodations range from three-bedroom courtyard villas to bespoke hilltop residences, all designed to harmonize with the natural environment while offering the utmost in comfort and elegance.
Sustainability is woven into the fabric of Apes Hill. From the eco-friendly golf course to the farmto-fork dining experience, every effort is made to protect and preserve the natural environment. The resort's innovative practices, such as using local seaweed, manure, and compost for fertilization and capturing rainwater in a 58-million-gallon reservoir, highlight its dedication to environmental stewardship.
For more information, visit www.apeshill.com
Green Hospitality Certification Program Named To Travalyst’s Sustainability Compliance List
Audubon International is one of the first 49 organizations to meet Travalyst’s criteria for lodging industry sustainability certification through its Green Lodging and Green Hospitality Programs.
Founded in 2019 by Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex, Travalyst is a not-for-profit coalition of some of the biggest brands in travel and technology including Booking.com, Expedia Group, Google, Skyscanner, Travelport and Trip.com Group. The coalition works to bring sustainability information to the forefront to help travelers make more informed choices on where they spend their dollars.
“Being included among Travalyst’s fully vetted organizations is more proof that our Green Lodging and Green Hospitality Certification programs are global leaders in helping the accommodations industry meet market demand for more sustainable operations,” says Audubon International CEO Christine Kane. “We look forward to seeing our organization included on top travel sites as customers increasingly base their booking decisions on environmental best practices.”
They represent the first step in a broader, ongoing effort to improve the sustainability governance of certifications for the accommodation sector.
Following an independent review of their processes, the certifications listed are compliant with three initial criteria developed by the Travalyst coalition and validated by its Independent Advisory Group.
“This list is the first milestone in a longterm commitment to enhancing the integrity of sustainability information for consumers.”
— Sally Davy, Travalyst CEO
Sally Davey, CEO of Travalyst, says, “There are a huge number of certification bodies globally that focus on sustainability within the accommodation sector. We hear time and time again that this can be overwhelming and confusing, not only for people wanting to book a more sustainable stay, but also for accommodation providers and booking platforms. We’re working to make things easier to navigate.”
Travalyst welcomes continuous applications from certifications as part of an iterative review process.
Offered in Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze levels of certification, the Green Lodging and Green Hospitality programs provide independent third-party verification that audited lodging facilities have met environmental best practice standards and have demonstrated a strong commitment to making improvements by saving energy, conserving water, and reducing waste. Audubon International’s eco-rated partner facilities enjoy a distinct marketing advantage and public recognition as an environmental leader.
By asking certification bodies to meet a set of criteria, Travalyst aims to enable industry alignment behind accommodation sustainability certifications. These criteria are designed to establish an initial threshold that supports the certification industry to meet evolving regulatory requirements.
Davey continues, “This list is the first milestone in a long-term commitment to enhancing the integrity of sustainability information for consumers and the industry at large, and we will continue to work with stakeholders to closely monitor the fast-evolving legislative landscape, and adapt our approach to certifications accordingly.”
Adds Greg Poirier, Audubon International’s Director of Green Lodging and Green Hospitality Certification, “We are gratified to be recognized as one of the first 49 accommodation sustainability certifications compliant with the Travalyst criteria. This is a vital step toward greater consistency and transparency in the sustainability efforts of the tourism industry. Being part of this initiative is key to the growth of our mission and look forward to continuing our work with every partner to advance sustainable best practices in the lodging and hospitality industries.”
Solmar Golf Links Gains ACSP Recertification
Solmar Golf Links, designated as a Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary in 2021 and the first club to be so recognized in Los Cabos, has continued to excel as a custodian of the environment with a recent renewal of the certification for 2024.
In conjunction with the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program for Golf Courses, the club’s golf and maintenance staff is perpetuating the club’s sanctuary designation with Audubon International.
Solmar Golf Links’ sustainable accomplishments include:
• Extensive native acreage on the property
• Reducing irrigated areas to conserve water
• Establishing buffers around water bodies
• Providing excellent wildlife habitat
• Conducting water quality testing
“We are very proud to be a Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary, and especially proud that we’re the first club in Los Cabos to earn this environmental citation,” said Nubia Sarabia, director of golf. “Greg Norman and his team designed a versatile course that treads very lightly on nature’s toes. Earthmoving was kept to an absolute minimum during construction. From start to finish, the layout looks like it was extruded by the landscape, not built on top of it.”
Course superintendent Freddy Elos cited several eco-friendly projects he and his staff pursue on a regular basis that align with Audubon International’s guidelines including: reducing water & chemical usage, increasing wildlife habitat areas and water quality management, among others.
Opened in February 2020, the Greg Norman Signature course at Solmar Golf Links anchors an 834-acre resort and residential community on the Pacific Ocean 15 minutes from downtown Cabo San Lucas. Known for his ‘least-disturbance’ design approach, Norman built a low-profile layout that spans three different ecosystems and offers sweeping ocean views from every hole. Existing landforms and drought-resistant grasses were integrated in the design, creating an eco-friendly golf experience that flows naturally with the desertmeets-ocean setting.
“Solmar Golf Links is the most spectacular piece of oceanfront property I’ve seen in a long time, so to have the opportunity to build a course on this site was truly once-in-a-lifetime,” Norman said at the club’s grand opening. “My goal was to keep it as natural as possible while showcasing the site’s arroyos, dunes and view corridors. We wanted to build a sustainable course that is playable from all perspectives.”
The CABOT Connection
New Partnership Sets Sanctuary Platinum Standard
By Vic Williams
Rolled out in 2023, Audubon International’s allencompassing Signature Sanctuary Platinum certification level was built for golf-centered destination companies like The Cabot Collection. Its impressive growth as a high-level golf brand began in 2012 with the Cabot Links course at what is now known as Cabot Cape Breton. A dozen years later, The Cabot Collection offers high-level golf developments across the globe.
Built atop reclaimed coal mining land on the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Cabot Links had sustainability best practices in its bones from the beginning. Neither Co-founder and CEO Ben Cowan-Dewar, his team or designers and developers, nor the region’s economically challenged residents would have it any other way, and that commitment continues as Cabot keeps expanding its golf-lodging-hospitality-residence footprint, which now
reaches six countries on two continents.
So, in 2024, when Cowan-Dewar and Audubon International announced an exclusive partnership to put every current and future course, hotel, restaurant, home, and element of infrastructure in the Cabot Collection on a path to Platinum Certification, it was big news, but not surprising.
“We’ve been thrilled to work with Audubon [International] for a number of years now, and as we've grown from our humble beginnings–now having a number of properties around the world, it's an extension of those same principles that appealed to us having built Cabot on a remediated mine on the coast of Cape Breton,” Cowan-Dewar said in early September. “We’ve worked with Audubon [International] to make sure we had all the best approaches to building that golf product. That’s been unwavering as we've grown, and they’ve been a wonderful partner.”
Where it began: Built on an old mining site, Cabon Cape Breton in Nova Scotia was a sustainability-based project from the construction of its first golf course, then through its expanding lodging and hospitality elements – with community cooperation throughout.
Photo by Home in Two Golf | Courtesy of Cabot
WHAT IS SIGNATURE PLATINUM?
Signature Platinum Certification is the organization’s highest-level program, designed primarily for high-end destination resorts that combine golf, lodging, and hospitality–and often work in concert with local communities committed to sustainable operations at the public level (some of whom are currently enrolled in the Sustainable Communities program). Audubon International has taken the highest individual certifications they provide for each individual program and combined them into an umbrella certification for the entire property. To qualify for the Signature Platinum Certification, not only does the golf course need to meet the Signature Gold certification level for golf (they also have bronze and silver certifications); it must also commit to building and maintaining at least one other sustainable element such as lodging.
A NEW HIGH-PROFILE PARTNER
Cabot’s decade-long growth spurt has been impressive, making it the perfect “early adopter” of the elite, demanding Signature Platinum Certification program.
Three years after Cabot Links and its original lodging-clubhouse complex opened, Cabot Cliffs opened in 2015. Designed by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw, it sprawls and twists on a high bluff, and quickly rose to No. 11 on Golf Digest’s World’s 100 Greatest Golf Courses (the Links is No. 35). Then came a 10-hole short course called The Nest, 19 upscale Golf Villas, two more restaurants, and more than 40 homes.
Cabot Cape Breton’s success led Cowan-Dewar to scout new or existing golf properties in rapid succession, starting with two sites on opposite ends of the Western Hemisphere. Cabot Saint Lucia in the Caribbean with Point Hardy Golf Club, also designed by Coore-Crenshaw, debuted in 2023, while Cabot Revelstoke in the mountains of British Columbia, designed by Cabot Links architect Rod Whitman, is slated for play in 2026.
In 2024 Cabot added four more properties to the mix.
First announced was Cabot Citrus Farms, the former World Woods golf complex in Central Florida, which features two “revitalized” 18-hole courses–“Karoo” and “Roost”–a 9-hole course , an 11-hole par 3 course, new clubhouse, practice facility, Sporting Club, restaurants, lodging, and real estate.
Then came word that Cabot had acquired a modern links in the Scottish Highlands called Castle Stuart, which opened in 2009 and later hosted several Scottish Opens in succession. Laid out on a bluff above Moray Firth in spectacular stair-step fashion by Mark Parsinen and Gil Hanse, it’s now the anchor for Cabot Highlands, and in 2025 will gain a handsome 18-hole partner designed by Tom Doak called Old Petty, followed by lodging and real estate.
Next up? Cabot Bordeaux in Southwest France, formerly Golf du Médoc, features two full-length courses–one laid out by Whitman, the other by Coore–as well as a 79-room hotel, spa, restaurants, a wine cave, and more, all of which are currently being updated and reimagined to fit seamlessly into the Cabot family while working to attain Platinum status.
Finally, as fall approached, Cowan-Dewar revealed that he’d signed a partnership agreement with Lofoten Links (pronounced “lo-foo-ten”) in northwest
Mountain challenge: Slated to open for golf in 2026, Cabot Revelstoke will emerge carefully from some of the most aesthetically beautiful and environmentally sensitive terrain in North America, in the British Columbian Rockies. Audubon International is working with architect Rod Whitman and his staff to make the course sustainable from the start. Photo by Sam Burrows | Courtesy of Cabot
Norway, a rugged, remote, spectacular seaside course that spurs golfers to tee off at midnight in summer, with the aurora borealis a frequent companion.
Cabot’s footprint now extends into a broad range of ecozones, which gives their Signature Sanctuary Partnership with Audubon International even more gravitas and industry-altering potential. Developing or redeveloping these sites with sustainable best practices front and center is a monumental undertaking, but from the very first turning of a shovel on Cape Breton’s Scotland-like soil, Cowan-Dewar and his team have been up for the challenge.
“We were literally taking a site on the ocean in Cape Breton that had been a coal mine from 1880 to 1953 and moving it forward in its next life as a golf course,” he said. “There was a lot of press during the building process, of golf as a ‘green’ offering–how do we do it?”
AGE-OLD INSPIRATION
Cowan-Dewar points to the game’s oldest and most famous course as the blueprint for Cabot’s stewardship-meets-community culture.
“Let’s take St. Andrews as an exemplar. It’s been there for 500 years and coexisted with its community, and its fescue turf, which is what we have at Cabot Links and Cabot Cliffs, is a naturally occurring grass that gets firm and fast. Links golf didn’t have irrigation systems or agronomists 500 years ago. The Old Course. It had fescue. When it got dry in the summer, it got baked out–firm and fast. It’s easy to look at that and think about how golf can coexist and be sustainable within its communities. And that really was absolutely core to us from the very beginning.”
Each of the original Cape Breton courses was certified in the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program (ACSP for Golf), both applying for membership within months of opening. While Cabot Links brought a forlorn mining site back to fervent life, making it a natural laboratory for sustainable practices, Cowan-Dewar said that its
Cabot Highlands: With a second course in development to augment the original Castle Stuart course, which opened in 2009 near Inverness, Scotland, Cabot Highlands continues to build on its already strong commitment to environmental stewardship.
Photo by Cookie Jar Golf | Courtesy of Cabot
“We were taking a site on the ocean in Cape Breton that had been a coal mine and moving it in its next life as a golf course.”
— Ben Cowan-Dewar
younger sibling course brought a new set of challenges to not only the design but its stewardship parameters.
“While we were building Cabot Cliffs, we did education around the dunes ecosystem and wildlife habitat. We had these two unbelievably natural sites that, aside from being along the ocean, had wetlands, forest, and dunes. We wanted to coexist as best we could within nature.”
Turns out that model works well at Cabot’s other locales, too.
“We are building on that foundation,” he continued. “Once we’d built Cliffs and proven that [we could succeed as environmental stewards],
superintendent Bradley Allen, who’s now at Cabot Revelstoke, took the lead and passed the baton to the team. It’s something that we’ve maintained a focus on. It’s the responsible thing to do–sustainability is part of good corporate citizenship in your community, and being great for [a region’s] ecology starts at the root.”
A PROMISING START
Moving Cabot Cape Breton under the Platinum Signature Sanctuary umbrella spurred a site visit by Director of Environmental Programs for Golf Frank LaVardera, along with Greg Poirier, Director of Green Hospitality & Green Lodging Certifications. LaVardera noted the staff’s clear commitment to building on its deep stewardship history. “Cabot Cape Breton’s three courses have been part of our ACSP for years. The Cape Breton team, led by General Manager Kendall Clancy, is committed to long-term sustainability in everything they do. I was very impressed with not only their facilities, but also the can-do attitude of the team.”
With Cabot St. Lucia, the Caribbean’s tropical ecosystem presented a particular challenge to architects Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw: To keep the delicate island ecosystems at the forefront of their design elements – setting a sustainable stage for agronomists to bring Audubon International Signature Sanctuary best practices to fruition.
Photo by Jacob Sjolman Courtesy of Cabot
In September 2023 LaVardera also checked in on Cabot Revelstoke. “They have embraced our Signature Platinum certification process and are designing and building facilities that will be environmentally sustainable. Bradley Allen, the future golf course superintendent, has been on site from the start and is making sure all guidelines and principles are included in their construction process.”
In September of this year, Audubon International Director of Signature Sanctuary Certifiation Mark O’Mell and Poirier trekked to the Scottish
city of Inverness to make an initial in-depth assessment of Cabot Highlands.
“On the golf course side of the property, we came at the perfect time since they are just beginning construction of their new maintenance facility,” O’Mell reported. “I was able to review their designs; some of them were not going to be compliant with Platinum level, but it was much easier to make adjustments before construction rather than retrofitting. The golf courses themselves are already at a Platinum level. Extreme care was placed in the design and thoughtfulness was used to mitigate as many environmental concerns as possible.”
O’Mell noted that Scotland’s environmental restrictions and requirements are more stringent than in the U.S. For instance, construction on the new course was slated to wrap up for the year on
Oct. 31 to protect bird migration, but CowanDewar and company are fully on board.
“The team at Cabot Highlands is wonderful,” O’Mell concluded. “They understand what this collaboration means to both Cabot and Audubon International and will be a great team to work with moving forward.”
Poirier found that Cabot is on the right track on the lodging front, too. He was impressed at what stewardship measures were firmly in place at the Cape Breton property, and sees that same commitment in Scotland, where accommodations will grow from the three golf cottages currently offered.
“The people there are amazing as a group,” Poirier said, echoing his colleague. “Being in Europe and Scotland specifically, they are further along the sustainability journey in general through their more substantial recycling programs available through local law and practice.”
GROWING THE ‘GREEN’ GAME
The Cabot-Audubon International Signature Platinum partnership is a logical outgrowth of the golf and lodging industries’ ever-deepening determination to do the right thing for and by the natural environment–by necessity, and by popular demand from customers and potential team members alike.
“It's such an unbelievable source of pride for our team,” Cowan-Dewar said. “It matters so much. And as we interview new recruits from all over the world, it's something we get asked about.”
LaVardera agrees. “Overall, Cabot is dedicated to environmental sustainability on all of their properties, and it’s clear that this philosophy starts at the corporate level.”
Now it’s time to set a standard for every golf destination. “For both Audubon International and us, it’s chance to tell a story around something that we'd taken so seriously and for which they’ve been such a great partner–really talk about what has worked so well for us,” Cowan-Dewar concludes. “We’re happy to share that work. It’s such a great program, and it’s meaningful to guests around the world now too.”
For more on Cabot, visit www.thecabotcollection.com
Formerly World Woods, Cabot Citrus Farms in Central Florida is the company’s first foray in the U.S.
A Solid Six-Some of Sustainability Success
As Audubon International sees its mission grow in every certification program it offers, from golf to lodging and hospitality to other “built environments,” its Sustainable Communities Certification program is also poised for rapid growth in the coming months and years. Jill Moore, Sustainable Communities Program Manager, is more than ready for it–as are the stewardship-minded municipalities and destinations she finds herself working with.
“This has been a busy year for Sustainable Communities, with so much to celebrate,” she says. “The majority of current active members have been in the program for six years or more, and have one or more addition certifications with Audubon International as well. As other communities see the benefits, we’re sure to see our numbers grow.”
Sustainable Community Members are a very elite group requiring teamwork, determination and dedication for a worthy cause they believe in. This certification is different from other Audubon International certifications in that although there are 15 common focus areas consistent to each member, the long-term sustainability plan created for each community is personalized and unique to each–and often the goals decided on and achieved are accomplished through dedicated volunteers and residents in addition to staff. “The are doing very important work for the environment, and they do it with passion and focus,” she adds.
Here’s how six certified Sustainable Communities are keeping in harmony their local environments, and therefore helping the planet at large.
AMELIA ISLAND COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION, FLORIDA
First certified in 2019, recertified summer of 2024, this far northeastern Florida island is also home to 10 Green Lodging certified hotels and resorts. “Its Pollinator Corridor Project is a leading community effort, whose long-range sustainable goals are in conjunction with the community’s strategic plan,” Moore says.
As a community that has been involved with Audubon International for several years and has now completed their first three-year recertification Amelia Island Plantation has established momentum towards future sustainability and environmental stewardship. From their mission statement of making decisions “in harmony with nature” to their commitment to sustainable
practices, Amelia Island Plantation is an example to current and future sustainable communities.
The pollinator pathway was recently celebrated as part of their recertification. As an example of thoughtful commitment from community members, this project was not only about beautification along a well-traveled access way, it also provides a native habitat for pollinators as well as an educational opportunity for
all who pass by.
Amelia’s tourism bureau partners with a dozen local conservation groups to help bolster messaging and spur further action throughout the community, including annual “street to surf” cleanups. “We spend half a million dollars every year on beach cleanups,” says Maurie Dugger, Director of Program Development for the Amelia Island Tourist Development Council/ Convention & Visitors Bureau. “I think we picked up 61 tons last year.”
Also, 20 properties have gained arboretum status, and a new “Gardens of Amelia” program provides habitat and tracks dozens of natural species. Large tour or convention groups get in on the act by recycling leftover paper locally or donating excess food to the island’s non-profit social service organizations. www.ameliaisland.com
Audubon International’s Jill Moore (second from left) joins Amelia Island Foundation volunteers at a park ribbon cutting, spring 2024.
THE LANDINGS, SKIDAWAY, GEORGIA
This sprawling, wetlands-and-forest-blessed community of 8,000 southeast of Savannah was originally certified in 2014 as the first SCP member in Georgia; and still the only one. It was recertified for the third time in fall 2024. All six of its golf courses are ACSP for Golf. Moore calls out its “Incredible Volunteer run programs, from the gardens to Terrapin Turtle protection.”
“With all our wildlife, we have 151 lagoons, and absolute amazing fishing,” says Greg Freeman, Natural Resources Manager for Skidaway Island’s Public Works Department. “We take care of the algae and water quality. Also, I do the street sweeping and the vehicle fleet and our landscaping. The residents in Skidaway Audubon are amazing help with more than I can list of things going on right now. They’re building bluebird houses for our trails. We have a pollinator garden that they’re replanting and working on. And Skidaway Farms, residents can lease one of 130 20x20 plots and have their own garden.”
Staff also recently completed a chimney swift project with a replica chimney that can hold up to 200 birds, and work is getting underway to shore up one of the main freshwater lagoons that catches almost all the island’s outflow. “It’s responsible for I’d say 40% of the stormwater outflow,” Freeman says. “The structures have to be rebuilt bigger. That's going to take cooperation with the landings club. We have to get really creative and probably draw the water down a little bit. There’s going to be some land alteration and the lagoon that it ties into.”
On the outreach and education front, Freeman adds that Skidaway’s residents are open to learning–“understanding and helping more than I could expect between Coastal Conservation Association and Skidaway Audu-
bon; they do an amazing amount of work that we could never do with the staff that we have.”
Freeman has enjoyed working with Moore. “She’s super enthusiastic, super helpful,” he says. “She spent two hours looking at a long-range plan. I’m excited to work with her. She definitely loves what she's doing.”
https://landings.org
OLDFIELD CLUB AND COMMUNITY, SOUTH CAROLINA
Located near Hilton Head and originally certified in 2018, Oldfield the first private residential community of its size in South Carolina, completed its second recertification summer of 2024.
“We are in the process of expanding our organic community garden,” said Capt. Leanna McMillan, Naturalist and Oldfield Club and OCA Outfitters Center Assistant Director. “The area where our garden is used to just be mowed turf grass and is now a thriving and growing community garden with over 60 garden beds. Our garden is a true community garden where everyone helps with the planting, weeding, upkeep, and everyone enjoys the harvest. We also have a kids garden club for them to learn about organic gardening. In addition, we have recently added two native garden beds to showcase native plants that grow well in this area in hopes that people will fall in love with them and plant them in their yards.”
McMillan added that the community hosts a Farmers Market monthly that highlights 20-25 local vendors with local products. “All of our vendors sell authentic local goods. Some months we support a cause such as a dog rescue or habitat for humanity.”
“The biggest benefit that I see of working with Audubon International is having a backbone to support our various sustainable initiatives. I also like the benefit of having the focus areas and a plan to help our community reach its goals and create new goals.”
www.oldfieldsc.com
These special boxes help keep the turtle population on Skidaway Island, Ga., thriving in their habitat.
A community garden at Oldfield Club & Community in South Carolina showcases native plants.
SEABROOK ISLAND, SOUTH CAROLINA
This coastal community was originally certified in 2018 as the first residential resort in South Carolina. It just completed its second recertification in summer 2024. Its golf course is also Audubon Certified Sanctuary Program for Golf certified.
“One of the largest projects we’ve completed this year is a completely new website,” says, Heather Paton, Executive Director of Seabrook Island Property Owners Association. “It is more intuitive and easier to use than the previous version. There is a greater capability for multi-media links, and interactive features are included throughout. We’ve received only positive comments so far.”
Paton adds that the site offers a new blog called “Palmetto Pulse” which provides updates on community happenings by topic as they occur. In addition, they’ve added a Property Owner Portal. This allows owners to access their account, minutes of the Board and committees, and to enter information for an opt-in owner directory.
The community also offers regular wildlife and native plant tours along with community events centered around sustainable practices. They print brochures on wildlife interaction and conduct constant efforts to recycle sand, repair seawalls, rebuild boardwalks and more. A pump station upgrade nears completion. And through it all, they have deep and involved community buy-in.
“AISCP has been a good fit for Seabrook Island,” Paton says. “Our long term planning is based on the three pillars of sustainability: Healthy Local Environment, Quality of Life for Residents, and Economic Stability. Our 2024 Property Owner survey to which 60% of our owners responded,
shows the value they place on topics in our Sustainability Plan.” When asked about the importance of SIPOA amenities, they were ranked as Boardwalks 98%, Beaches 97%, Green/open space 80%, Fitness/Wellness areas 78%, and outdoor pool 66%. Owners also ranked our strategic goals. Top priority goals are to invest in flooding and drainage management, and beach preservation, restoration, and renourishment programs.
www.seabrookisland.com
SPRUCE PEAK, VERMONT
This popular resort community achieved its third certification this fall. “So much sets them apart,” says Moore. “Along with their golf course’s ACSP for Golf and Green Lodging certifications, it’s the first and only ski resort in the country to be a member of the Sustainable Community program. They maintain an exemplary sustainable practices program, from geothermal and fully electric buildings all the way to nature trails and community chef garden.”
Spruce Peak’s long history with Audubon International Sustainable Communities Program began in 2010 when it became the first Ski Resort community in the country to earn this distinguished environmental achievement. Since then, the community have continued to uphold and exceed the standards set by this certification. Additionally, the dedication to sustainability is evident through the involvement in the ACSP for Golf and Green Lodging programs.
The Mountain Course – Since 2006, The Mountain Course has been recognized as an Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary, demonstrating our commitment to maintaining ecological balance while offering a premier golfing experi-
Eco-minded resident volunteers help keep Seabrook Island’s many boardwalks in good shape.
Miles of nature trails are a big part of Spruce Peak’s appeal to outdoors enthusiasts.
ence.
The Village Center – The Spruce Peak Village Center is heated and cooled by the largest geothermal field in northern Vermont with over 100 wells. This advance system significantly reduces reliance on fossil fuels.
Stormwater Management – The innovative approach to stormwater management includes heated sidewalks throughout the Village, which eliminates snow and ice without the use of salt or gravel, protecting local water systems and reducing the community’s environmental impact.
The Treehouse at Spruce Peak – This all-electric building is the first of its kind in Vermont, showcasing the existing commitment to cutting-edge sustainable design and energy efficiency.
Village Landscape – Surrounded by 2,000 acres of preserved Vermont land, the Village landscape integrates seamlessly with the natural environment, ensuring that development enhances the surrounding ecosystem. Protected wildlife habitat corridors preserve precious routes for deer, moose, bear, as well as several rare bird species.
Looking ahead, Spruce Peak’s 2030 plan outlines ambitious goals to further enhance sustainability efforts. This includes targets for reducing consumption of fuels across the community, building on the current achievement of a 42% diversion from landfills, and promoting the use of mass transportation for employees and guests.
“More than ever, it is critical that we put sustainability at the center of everything that we do here at Spruce Peak,” says Sam Gaines, President of Spruce Peak Realty. “To that end, Spruce Peak is thrill1ed to continue our partnership with Audubon International, an organization which shares our values of stewardship and sustainability. Over the past 14 years, Audubon International has helped provide the Spruce Peak community with a template to model our sustainable practices and standards. Our community looks forward to continuing our work with Audubon so that we can improve our industry-leading practices throughout our golf courses, lodges, village and real estate development.”
www.sprucepeak.com
TOWN OF RED HOOK, NEW YORK
The newest member of Audubon International’s Sustainable Community family, Red Hook is another example of resident volunteers giving back to their community to make it the best it can be. A term coined during Moore’s recent site visit was For the Community By The Community.“Red Hook offers a variety of environmental stewardship committees, engages in grant writing for nature trails, and maintains a community center with something for everyone,” she adds. The library’s lending program includes American girl dolls for the kids to backpacks and binoculars for nature lovers.
“We’re very excited [to be receiving the certification],” says Erin Cannan, vice president for civic engagement at Bard College and member of the volunteer committee that
has worked on the project. “But there’s a lot left to do, and this work is just never done.”
In Red Hook, work included the installation of art boxes around the town and the surveying of residents to assess community needs. The art boxes include pop-up displays housed atop wooden posts that highlight the intersection of open space and the arts in Red Hook by making art available outdoors, Cannan said. The boxes have been installed at Greig Farm, Holy Cow, Key Bank, and the Red Hook Community Center.
The committee is also working to improve pedestrian and bicycle signage, organize community activities that utilize open space, and bring increased mental health services to Red Hook. Implementation will likely require collaboration with local officials, particularly those on the Red Hook Town Board.
Committee member Nick Ascienzo added that the committee’s myriad goals reflect the broad range of needs and assets in Red Hook. “The things that we have been doing are important on many levels with all of the various integrated parts [of the community],” he said. The certification, he added, reflects this. “All of us who worked on the committee are really happy that we were able to get to this point.”
“The Audubon International process helped structure our scope of work as we identified community strengths to highlight and amplify, while we determined which focus areas needed more attention,” Cannan says. “We now have a pathway forward where we can center both community and sustainability for the future.”
https://www.redhookny.gov
With information and quotes from a story by Grace Molenda in www.thedailycatch.org
Volunteers from the Town of Red Hook proudly display their new Sustainable Communities Certification
MEMBER SPOTLIGHT
The Sanctuary: Two Decades of Certified Sustainability on Sanibel Island
By Vic Williams
Sanibel
Island on Florida’s Gulf Coast offers a unique natural environment in a region of the nation that’s rife with flora and fauna variety–and also boasts many Audubon International members including aptly-named golf community The Sanctuary, which celebrated 20 years ACSP for Golf certification in 2024.
With a 6,000-acre-plus national wildlife refuge, Sanibel Island is truly a refuge of wonder and beauty. It’s also been in what can only be described as “Hurricane Alley” in recent years. While this year’s two big storms to date, Helene and Milton, spared Sanibel their most intense wrath, 2022’s Hurricane Ian was, without question, devastating in its surge of warm Gulf water and 150 mph winds. It threw a Cat 4 curveball at the entire southeast, literally changing Sanibel’s landscape and forcing out nearly all residents, who have since returned to resettle and, in some cases, rebuild.
“The strong survive when it comes to plants, and a lot of people are relandscaping and doing a lot of work,” said longtime Sanctuary Golf Club staffer and
Green and Grounds Director Kyle Sweet. “Fortunately for us, we had a very slow storm surge on the northeast side of the island. There were no videos or photos of cars on our golf course because the storm surge was closer to the beach. We didn’t have that. It came up and went down, and then a huge wind effect of broken trees and debris. But we opened the golf course about 90 days after the storm. We had a change in landscape, but two years later it’s coming back and getting better every day.”
The entire island is still on the mend but making tremendous progress to the new normal, however that ends up looking and feeling after many members and other residents rebuild their homes and tourists continue to find their way back. In any event, Sweet will keep sustainability best practices at the fore. “We’re doing things on the golf course to get it back to where it was before the storm. A lot of upgrades to the facilities are ongoing. We’re getting a new IPM/fertilizer storage building. The longterm plan is a bigger renovation to [the course] that includes converting several areas of turf into native planted waste areas and adding more naturalized areas along existing course edges. We have a robust
White Ibis are one of countless species find their way to and through The Sanctuary Golf Club on Florida’s Sanibel Island. Photo by Kyle Sweet.
plan to present to our membership in November, hopefully for approval.”
In the meantime, Golf Course Superintendent Josh Czarnecki continues to get his full bearings after nearly five months on the job. “There’s still lot of rehabilitation of the irrigation system to work on, but I’m really still trying to wrap my head around everything that Kyle’s done with regard to his conservation plans,” he says. “I’m still really just getting my feet on the ground and figuring these things out. The GCSAA [Golf Course Superintendents Association of America] is really pushing BMP programs now at a per-state level, so that helps as well.”
Sweet and Czarnecki’s hard work could serve as a model for many a club across the country. More than 70% of the island is preserved and protected, encompassing the J.N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge, West Sanibel River Preserve, and other smaller preserves managed by the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation and the City of Sanibel. Within the golf course itself, is the Wulfert Gopher Tortoise Preserve that is home to many gopher tortoises. “There’s no real developments left to do on Sanibel,” Sweet says. “Values are increasing because people are having to rebuild homes where the other homes were knocked down, especially after the storm. They’re not buying virgin land and creating homes. I’m fortunate to know many of the city planners, and they’re making improvements.”
“a few birds here and there” into a quasi-profession. “I’ve had a few exhibits on the islands and sold photography to people all over the country. Once I did that, I got into an interesting circle of people. I did the University of Florida Master Naturalist training and really ramped up my outreach and education program. I do 20 to 30 tours a year on the golf course. We print our own tour booklets and do all kinds of activities for members and their guests.”
“Do that site assessment, get it all down, and be super honest. It’s doable. It’s important. It’s pertinent. And it’s something members and guests like to see.”
— Kyle Sweet
For Audubon International’s environmental specialists, this outreach work figures heavily into their certification and recertification calculations. “It’s also kept my spark going with the program through the times we weren’t keeping track of things as well,” Sweet adds. “Our recertification kind of waned for a while. But what kept me going was the fact that we were always getting members, kids, interns, and guests out to see The Sanctuary and talk about what we’re doing, why we’re doing it, and showing people that we have a very good golf course that is intertwined with nature and unique to the island and its composition.”
After two decades in the Audubon International family, Sweet is more bullish than ever on the value of certification for both the short and long haul, no matter what a course’s setting, climate or history.
As the island’s human denizens chart their way forward, their animal cohabitants continue to thrive. “We’ve sustained our wildlife population well up here following the storm,” Sweet says. “We were the first to verify that armadillos were still on the island after the storm surge and we have a very robust population of softshell turtles, though many died because the freshwater bodies throughout the island were inundated with saltwater [from the storm surge]. We have a great relationship with the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation and have been involved in a box turtle study that they been working on for about 10 years.”
Over his nearly 30 years working on Sanibel, and as The Sanctuary’s conservation thought-and-action leader, Sweet has turned his hobby of photographing
“My advice would be to do that site assessment, get it all down, and be super honest,” he says. “And if you’re not doing it, it’s okay because it could be just a matter of a small project or a small change in thinking or just rerouting a staff member to do one thing different. You can work towards accomplishing those things. Some people don’t think they have the time, but you just need to get that site assessment and then target one section at a time. That’s how we did it. Our renewal process started with chemical use and reduction, then documenting what we’re doing with outreach and education. We were always working towards the goal.
“It’s doable. It’s important. It’s pertinent. And it’s something that members and guests like to see.”
A version of this feature appeared in the September 2024 edition of Golf Central magazine.
Keller GC Makes Monarchs at Home In Minnesota MONARCHS IN THE ROUGH
WhenGCGS Superintendent Paul Diegnau started at Keller Golf Course nearly 30 years ago, the popular Ramsey County public park layout already had more than 60 years of impressive history behind it. Laid out over a beautiful blend of forest and prairie along Keller Lake in 1929 and located in the East St. Paul community of Maplewood, MN, it hosted such high-profile tournaments as the PGA Championship, USGA’s National Amateur Publinks Championship, and the PGA Tour’s Western Open and St. Paul Open.
These days, Keller makes history as a model for how to run a golf course in the most environmentally friendly way possible. Certified in the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary for Golf program since 2008, the course checks all the boxes in sustainability best practices, from water and turf management to native area and wildlife habitat protection. Even through an extensive course and clubhouse redesign in 2013, that commitment remained strong. Diegnau’s personal and professional credo to work in concert with Minnesota’s incredible natural environment has only deepened over the years, spurring important partnerships in the process–including active participation in Audubon International’s Monarchs in the Rough program.
Before we get into your commitment to Monarchs in the Rough, how about an overall view of your approach to both certification and to keeping your golf course environmentally friendly?
I’ve always keyed in on the environmental aspect of it. At school my interests were in wildlife management, and then I got into golf course work and one thing led to another, but when it really happened for me was at my previous golf course–I was seeing all this wildlife and golf courses were just getting hammered in the media, all the negative publicity about pesticides and water use. I made a pledge that I was going to do whatever I could to counter those negative opinions. I got involved with Audubon International and we did a lot of different projects. We never achieved certification there, but when I got to Keller, within the first year, we put in three acres of native Minnesota prairie in out of the way places on the golf course, and that’s where it all started.
Some partnerships grew out of that, right?
In partnership with our local watershed district, which began in 2003, we started doing some shoreline restorations on the surface waters of the golf course. And that progressed further into additional prairie, acreage and woodland restoration. We did a total renovation of the golf course in 2013–all new
Keller Golf Course in St. Paul, Minn., blends its Monarchs in the Rough habitat into some 40 acres of native area throughout the popular public course.
playing surfaces, irrigation cart paths, everything–and incorporated another 15 acres of prairie into that project. So right now we're looking at 30 acres total, between prairie, woodland and shoreline restorations.
How did you get started in Monarchs in the Rough?
We got seed from them and used it in our prairie plantings. It’s a great program for us, extending our relationship with Audubon International.
How much area do you set aside for Monarch habitat?
It’s throughout the 20 acres–a broad range of plants, something like 80 species of plants in our various habitats. So lots of flowering native plants, and it is all very pollinator friendly.
What have recent migration numbers looked like?
The monarch population’s down this year. In recent years, we’ve had a native garden in the vicinity of our clubhouse. We plant a lot of mikweed and liatris sp. in this garden and we can get unbelievable swarms of monarch butterflies when the populations are high.
Tell us a bit about the wealth of other creatures, air-
‘Their instinct is to keep going north. But if you have the plantings they will sometimes make your course part of their path.’
– Harold Ammons
bound and otherwise, you have around the property. We’ve had a bluebird trail for most of the 29 years I’ve been here. We’ve got 36 boxes on that trail. They’re paired, so it’s 18 sites. We fledged 61 bluebirds this year. We have an osprey tower on our property that is finally producing offspring; about six or seven years ago we had a pair that attempted to nest, and now it’s every year. This year they fledged two young osprey. The parents teach them how to fish in our irrigation pond, so that’s fun to watch. We have a lot of birds here, 116 documented species on our property list. The prairie areas provide ideal habitat for rodents and smaller mammals and, consequently, we’ve seen our raptor population explode–hawks, owls, eagles, what have you. We’ve had beehives on property since I’ve been here, and they’ve been very successful. We’ve sold honey from them. And our deer population is back, stronger than ever.
How is working with Audubon International on recertification efforts?
They’ve been great. We had staff from Audubon International out on our property this year. I was super impressed with Scott Turner. Very knowledgeable. He asked great questions. That was delightful.
YOU
By joining Monarchs in the Rough, your course will become a crucial part of a n etwo rk of courses that are all working together to make the survival of monarchs possible. Join today and our program will support you as you prepare, plant, and maintain habitat for monarchs and other pollinators.
GREEN HOSPITALITY SPOTLIGHT
Ritz-Carlton Sets ‘Gold’ Standard for Denver
By Vic Williams
WhenThe Ritz-Carlton Denver achieved its first Audubon International Green Lodging Gold Certification this summer, it reached a stewardship pinnacle previously unmatched in a metro area that has long been known as green-friendly. This recognition emphasized a continuous company- and industry-wide story: to truly commit to sustainability across all operations, and foster a healthy culture of environmental stewardship.
“I think before even the certification, it came with the mindset that as we looked to come out of the pandemic is one, how do we attract talent. Also, how do we attract guests to our hotel? And part of that is there’s more of a sustainability mindset for our guests,” said Brad Mills, general manager for the 202-room downtown Denver hotel, which opened in 1984. “Our employees recognize it, want to be a part of it, and that even builds more momentum in culture.”
As with many older properties, The Ritz-Carlton Denver tackled needed upgrades with sustainable
best practices in mind, coupled with implementing surface-level, straightforward stewardship measures such as eliminating single-use plastic containers and implements, robust recycling, installing LED lighting and energy-saving switches, and double-glazing all windows.
“We started with crucial infrastructure, focusing on the things that we can control to drive this sustainability agenda forward,” Mills said. “The recycling, the trash containment, driving savings and utilities through simple behavioral sustainable practices like making sure the ballroom’s lights are off. We have boiler replacement for our hot water to be completed by the end of this year. I have a food waste processor that’s literally sitting on my loading dock right now. To get to that high level of certification we really focused on the things we were able to achieve, but the journey’s just beginning still for this hotel.”
That journey includes continued overhauling and modernization that, besides being good for the
The Ritz-Carlton Denver is the first hotel in the Mile-High City to attain Audubon International Green Lodging Gold Certification.
planet, will also prove lighter on the budget beyond the initial installment expense. “I have massive steam boilers over the million-dollar mark, hot water boiler replacements that are going to drive efficiency, plus air handling unit controls that are going to drive efficiency and sustainability. There’s more work to do that takes dollars, but we focused on the things that are behavioral in our operation and made small investments [along the way].”
“We started with infrastructure, focusing on the things we can control to drive this sustainability agenda forward.”
— Brad Mills, General Manager
“Especially from a meetings and events perspective, more clients than ever want to know what we’re doing to be sustainable and be responsible,” Mills continued. “And for us to be able to highlight all the great things that we’re doing really helps convert business. It’s a great investment for long-term business success.
Still, Mills finds equal if not greater benefit in the intangible effects of pursuing sustainability. “I think the bigger success comes from our team. I’m proud of what they’ve created to get us where we are. It’s what our employees want from a property. They have pride in the fact that we’re trying to take care, do the right things. It’s an inward change and an inward mindset.”
In addition to the heightened pride internally, the property aims to gain further outward recognition for its sustainable-focused efforts among clients and in the marketplace.
“When businesses and organizations say, ‘Hey, we need a carbon neutral or carbon minimal meeting events,’ we will be prepared to take that on, show them all that we’re doing. It’s a competitive environment.”
Through it all, Mills says his hotel’s commitment to an Audubon International partnership and Green Lodging certification has been and will continue to be, the foundation of its sustainability success. “They’re a great partner. Not to just come in and tell us what we’re doing wrong or right, but helping us make the right decision to make an impact. It’s not just to achieve certification, but again, the core of this is to do the right thing.”
Meeting planners are looking for sustainable partners in the lodging industry, and Ritz-Carlton Denver obliges with amenities such as this eco-friendly outdoor plaza.
2024 CERTIFICATIONS & RECERTIFICATIONS
NEW CERTIFICATIONS
ACSP FOR BUSINESS
Navy Federal Credit Union
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Eastpointe Country Club - West Course
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Hyatt Piñon Pointe
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Hyatt Residence Club Mountain Lodge
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The Town of Red Hook
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Westin St. John Villa Resort Company, Inc.
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JW Marriott Camelback Golf Club
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Berksdale Golf Course
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American Golf Corp. dba Lake Tahoe Golf Course
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Country Club of Darien
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Country Club of Miami
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Flat Creek Country Club
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Belfair POA, Inc.
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(Formerly Chester W. Ditto Golf Course)
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de Papagayo - Ocean Course
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Amelia Island Plantation
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The Landings on Skidaway Island
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Spruce Peak
