Sherwood Forest Golf Club Achieves Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Certification Located at the entrance of the Pisgah National Forest, lies Brevard, North Carolina. While Brevard is famous for its waterfalls, hiking and other outdoor adventures, Sherwood Forest Golf Club should not be overlooked. Sherwood Forest Golf Club is one of Audubon International’s most recent ACSP Certified golf courses and it could very well be one of the most unique and inspiring courses in the ACSP program. While golf courses often receive backlash for having poor environmental footprints, Audubon International’s Cooperative Sanctuary Program is changing that stereotypical perception by verifying environmental management on golf courses in six focal areas: environmental planning, water conservation, water quality, wildlife and habitat management, chemical use and safety, and outreach and education. Sherwood Forest
achieved certification in all six areas of ACSP certification and passed their in-person site visit just last month.
Wildlife & Habitat Enhancement, Water Conservation Sherwood Forest is a public 18-hole executive course situated within500 acres of protected green space. As a result of the restrictive covenants and conservation easements in place, there can be no construction or development in a riparian area along the Little River – protecting water quality while making Sherwood Forest a desirable location for an abundance of wildlife. While the walks from tee to green may only be 150 yards you will be sure to come across many species of flora and fauna including black bears, river otters, the infamous white squirrel, and North America’s only species of giant salamander, the Hellbender. Sherwood Forest continues
Photo Credit: Cathy Nell to expand their species diversity by enlarging low maintenance areas, installing nesting boxes, planting pollinator habitat and completing ecological restoration projects on site. But their efforts don’t stop there… the course itself is extremely sustainable and is only utilizing 4 acres of irrigation. This is much less than the average 80 irrigated acres on a typical 18-hole golf course as reported by Gregory T.
Photo Credit: Cathy Nell
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Golf Central • Volume 22, Issue 9
