On The Horizon: Utah’s Wohali takes sustainable shape

ON THE HORIZON

Wohali Puts Sustainability First

Utah Development On Track for Signature Sanctuary Certification

Sometime in 2023 or 2024, Audubon International’s certification footprint in the state of Utah will increase by a third when the 18-hole championship golf course at Wohali, a 5,147-acre, private residential and recreational development in the Wasatch Mountains about 30 minutes northeast of Park City, debuts for members.

That’s when Wohali expects to earn Audubon International’s most elite designation, Signature Sanctuary, which is focused on renovation and new build projects.

A blurb from Wohali’s website sets the stage for what promises to be one of the state’s, and nation’s, most environmentally sustainable projects.

“From the beginning our partnership set out to be stewards of the land and our environment, starting by putting the Wohali Backcountry’s 3,147 acres into a Conservation Easement to protect it from future development and saving the natural beauty for generations to come. We then focused on how the community could be more sustainable, environmentally friendly and climate neutral.”

The centerpiece of this commitment to a true light-on-the-land philosophy is the golf course. Designed by Wohali Principal Partner David Boyden — whose family roots on the property date back decades, to when his grandfather drove cattle down Eagle Canyon — it is taking shape on a dramatic, open, sage-strewn, stream-fed canvas of canyons, valleys and plateaus situated between 5,800 and 6,200 feet in elevation, just off Interstate 80. “If you are going to design your first solo course, I believe that you need to know the land, understand the weather, and be familiar with the area,” Boyden says.

“It’s coming around,” said Wohali Golf Superintendent Todd Bunte by phone as he made his way around the course’s routing on a fine fall day. “All 18 holes are shaped. We have [seeded] the practice facility, 10, 17, 18, and 1 through 4. We’re sodding the tees on 7 today. Our goal is to seed as much as we can, but we’ve done some sodding this fall to give us a jumpstart next spring, when we will continue our seeding.”

As of early November, eight greens had been seeded in T1 bentgrass. The ryegrass on tees, fairways and green surrounds are Champions T2. “We pushed our window, seeding the last green, the 19th hole, on September 18,” Bunte added. “It’s usually September 1 around here. They’re pretty thin, but we’ll have a foundation that will be there

Above: The Wohali site in its natural state, November 2019 Top Right: Wohali’s 10th hole shows the dramatic, open setting Bottom Right: Wohali under construction, October 2022

in the spring for us.”

Bunte and his crew have also planted more than 1,500 trees around the course — Colorado spruce, quaking aspen, autumn blaze maples, chokecherry. “By planting them we’ve really brought the [look of the] surrounding hills down to the course.”

As with many modern courses in the West, water conservation at Wohali is paramount, which means keeping irrigated areas to a minimum while allowing maximum playability and natural beauty. Its approximately 45 acres of fairways, 20 to 25 acres of maintained fescue rough, four and a half acres of greens and four acres of tees will be irrigated chiefly from water in the nearby Heber River, with well surveys underway to augment supply if needed.

State-of-the-art wastewater treatment is also in play property-wide including homes, clubhouse and practice center. “Wohali’s goal is to create a system where the wastewater is clean enough to recycle back into toilets and irrigate landscaping,” the website says. “Wohali has focused in on the Busse System, a small-scale wastewater treatment plant that uses a unique filtration system that produces clean re-usable water.”

All of this ground-up planning and execution aligns beautifully with Audubon International Signature Sancutary guidelines, and Bunte says that he and all of Wohali’s principals wouldn’t have it any other way.

“I’ve worked with Audubon in the Cooperative Sanctuary arena on a few of golf courses I’ve worked on — recertifications and such. I got a [GCSAA] ELGA Award in 2010 or 2011. So when I met with David Boyden, we talked about doing this right as far as trying not to disturb more than we have to. I believe in an organic, carbon-based fertility program. Let’s take care of what we have, starting with water quality. We seemed to be on the same page right off the bat. So I brought up Audubon International to him, and through the entire process of the application, he’s been on board.”

For more information on Wohali, visit www. wohaliutah.com.

To learn more about Audubon International Signature Sanctuary Certification, visit www. auduboninternational.org/signature-sanctuarycertification.

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TURF’S GREENER FUTURE

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THE FAIRWAYS FOUNDATION COULD HELP FUND YOUR PROJECT. APPLY FOR A GRANT IN 2023.

Aquatrols established The Fairways Foundation with the purpose of funding local and global projects that advance the conservation of our natural resources. These projects will help to preserve the environment we live and work in while encouraging education and stewardship not only within our own industry but also within wider communities.

GRANT SUBMISSIONS ARE OPEN THROUGH APRIL 30, 2023

If you are considering environmentally conscious projects visit TheFairWaysFoundation.com for more details.

www.auduboninternational.org