Over the past few weeks we have been looking at the environmental impacts we have around the golf course. This has been extremely informative and interesting to see which courses work this into their structure and day to day plans.
Working with a course that is Audubon certified, I have been lucky to learn how important it is. I believe the Audubon program is something all courses should strive toward to lessen their negative impact and help them to focus on continuously raising the standards of the daily operations. In todays society there are many ways for people to communicate with the community so I think it is important to ensure people understand the importance of what this program means. In the area of the Bow Valley, people are always watching and are extremely quick to point out things they don’t like. Although this can be frustrating it is important to be held accountable and reminded of why this program is in place and just how important some of these restrictions are.
If every course strived to be Audubon certified it would improve the image of environmental impact within the golf industry. Although I hope to always work at a course that is certified, I know that will not always be the case. Because of this I plan on helping any course I work at to either continue to improve under the certification or improve each year to hopefully become certified as I believe it is the future of our industry. The environment needs to be protected to allow the game of golf to reach a new demographic as well as inform people of the advantages and beauty that can be found while out enjoying a round of golf.
Matt's Reflective Journal 