BY VINCE MEYER
Outdoors Editor
EAST GULL LAKE -
Cragun's Legacy Golf Course has been recertified as environmentally
sound by Audubon International.
Cragun's joins a list of just two courses - the other is Pinehurst in
North Carolina - that have earned this certification, which states
that Cragun's will manage its course according to a set of principles
established by Audubon International.
Among these principles are a devotion to wildlife conservation,
habitat enhancement and water conservation and the use of native
plants and shrubs. Nancy Richardson, director of Audubon Signature
Programs, toured the course last week and gave it her seal of
approval.
"Look at that area over there," Richardson said, pointing to an
out-of-bounds rough off the fairway. "It has a low buffer, higher
shrubs and saplings, then the overstory of trees. That's a transition
of cover types that provides safety for animals. They don't have to go
from trees onto turf grass. They can get to the edge of vegetation and
peek out and see if they want
to venture out. That's what we want to see. We want wildlife to be
able to move through the property unobserved."
Cragun's developers committed early to creating an environmentally
friendly golf course, and it shows. Matt McKinnon, course supervisor,
said he's seen deer, bear, fox and turtles on the fairways and wood
ducks, eagles and dozens of other birds winging overhead.
"Golf course (managers) often hear, 'You're just doing whatever it
takes to sell tee times,'" McKinnon said. "But when people come here
they see the Audubon logo and know that this course cares. We're not
out to rape the land and dump chemicals."
To assure that the 600-acre course maintains its Audubon certification
McKinnon must keep his maintenance center clean. This accounts for
one-third of the certification process. McKinnon also must monitor the
water in 100-acre Stephens Lake and the wells that are used for
irrigation, and he must monitor the soil to make sure that too much
fertilizer and pesticides are not being applied. Drainage is another
concern. Cragun's must prove that runoff from the golf course is not
harming water anywhere in the surrounding watershed.
"One thing our members usually say," Richardson said, "is that the
cost of doing things right actually leads to a reduction in operating
costs."
Visitors to Cragun's can now be sure that the fairways and greens are
being managed for the good of golfers while the surrounding woods and
water are being managed for the good of wildlife. |
