Eight years after entering the organization’s certification program, the Massachusetts club has become the 12^th in the state to be certified as a cooperative sanctuary. Finding the right balance between providing desired course conditions and expanding sustainable practices that were already in place was the biggest challenge, according to Superintendent Tim Hood.

Needham (Mass.) Golf Club was recently designated by Audubon International as a Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary, the Needham Times
Needham GC is now one of 12 courses in Massachusetts certified as a cooperative sanctuary, the Times reported.

Needham GC’s Superintendent, Tim Hood, told the Times that the club has been an Audubon International member since 2005, and that it entered the organization’s certification program in 2008.
At that time, Hood said, the club was already following sustainable and environmentally friendly practices.

Joining the program was not just a way to officially recognize the club’s sustainable practices, Hood told the Times; it was also seen as a way to expand them.
“You get started in the program, you know what you’re already doing, and you just do more,” he said.

To receive its certification, Needham GC had to satisfy six categories outlined by Audubon International, the Times The first of these categories, Environmental Planning, requires courses to take an inventory of their grounds and wildlife to determine what and how to implement sustainable practices.
“It’s recognizing what you’re working with,” Hood.

Though the course had been following sustainable practices, expanding upon them was not a simple matter of eliminating pesticide use and letting the grass grow tall, the Times explained, because the club still needs to ensure quality course conditions for golfers.
And that was the biggest challenge of the process, Hood said.

As part of its Wildlife and Habitat Management category, Hood noted, the Audubon program encourages courses to find areas where they can let woodland grow freely and extend to water sources, creating a comfortable habitat for wildlife.
The first time he implemented that practice, Hood admitted to the Times, he was a bit too eager in designing the landscape with too much tall grass around wooded areas and waterways, which somewhat hampered play for golfers.

Now, eight years later, Hood and his team have found a way to satisfy both the golfers and Audubon International, the Times It’s about balance, he said.

For other program categories like Water Conservation, sustainable practices meld more easily with pristine course conditions, because it turns out that conserving water also creates desirable greens conditions.
“Golfers like fast, firm greens and the way to do that is to not overwater,” Hood said.

Water conservation has become a big focus for Hood, the Times reported, because it is the natural resource that the club uses the most.

Going beyond landscaping and water conservation, the course is using Mother Nature to help with course maintenance, the Times
An Eagle Scout project, led by a former Needham high student, brought bat houses to the course to help with insects. Building upon that idea, the course also set up bluebird houses along the course.
“You’re always dealing with all kinds of wildlife,” said Hood.

In addition to the course’s winged helpers, Hood rented goats earlier this year to help clear poison ivy and underbrush, the Times noted. Not only were they effective, the goats were popular with the golfers, who were sad to seem them go at the end of their two-week rental period, Hood said. But he plans to continue to use the goats to help trim underbrush in the future.

Audubon International reissues a certification every three years, Hood noted, which requires courses to maintain their sustainable practices and look for new ways to be environmentally friendly. The ideas that Hood has for the future, he told the Times, include replacing the course’s irrigation system, which dates to the 1960s, with one that will promote more efficient water use.

For now, though, Hood and his team are enjoying the recognition of their efforts, which has been a long time in coming. “We’re very proud that we became certified and [of] the work that we’ve done,” he told the Times. And he also hopes to see interest in “green” methods spread beyond golf courses. Sustainable practices like those used at the course could also be used elsewhere in the community, such as at schools, he noted.

A video of Hood describing what has been done at Needham GC to earn Audubon certification can be viewed at http://needham.wickedlocal.com/news/20160718/needham-golf-club-recognized-for-being-green