St. Davids Golf Club in Wayne, Pa. was recently highlighted in a Best Management Practices Handbook, published by the Pennsylvania Environmental Council (PEC), for its leadership in converting more of its course to natural areas and for exemplary stormwater management.

The club converted previously mowed lawn areas to 10 acres of natural grasses, reducing the need for chemicals and water use and increasing habitat for birds and mammals.

Additionally, the club was cited for creating a basin to capture rain water from its clubhouse and help it to soak into the ground, reducing runoff to a stream on the property.

The handbook was published by the PEC in partnership with Land Studies, Inc. John Chassard, Director of Grounds at the Lehigh Country Club in Allentown, Pa., assisted in the collection of information about state-of-the-art practices from superintendents throughout the state of Pennsylvania that was then used to help compile the best practices highlighted in the publication.

The handbook, which can be downloaded from a special Web site, www.pecpa.org/gchandbook, includes detailed descriptions of recommended practices, their environmental benefits, and local examples, with contact information, to help superintendents learn how to implement the practices at their own courses. The handbook also includes hyperlinks for additional online resources for each practice.

Specific best-practice areas covered in the handbook include: creating or restoring wetlands and natural floodplains; generating additional-value enviromental service credits for nutrient reduction, wetland mitigation and habitat creation or preservation; capturing and mitigating stormwater runoff and integrating those practices with local municipalities and their watershed management strategies; and increasing groundwater recharge.