Kids & Family

Audubon Calls WC Golf Course A 'Sanctuary'

Boundary Oak course gets designation for environmental stewardship.

knows how to take care of the critters.

The evidence is in the city course's designation as a "Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary" by Audubon International. It is the 38th course in California to achieve this designation.

"We truly enjoyed the process of the Sanctuary Program because it mirrored many of the goals that we have here to be environmentally cooperative,” stated Eddi Wahlborg, Boundary Oak Golf Course superintendent in an Audubon news release.

Examples of environmentally friendly actions recently at the course include:

  • installation of six barn owl boxes around the course in an Eagle Scout project.
  • installation of bee blocks to promote non-stinging native bees to pollinate plants on the course.
  • reductions in the use of chemicals to maintain the course.


More details about these projects came in an email from Boundary Oak General Manager Lance Iwanaka:

Barn Owl Boxes Installation – Eddi Wahlborg, GCSAA Class “A” Golf Course Superintendent, worked with Brian Murphy of the Walnut Creek Open Space Foundation and several Eagle Scout troop members to build and install 6 Barn Owl boxes around the course.  It is a common practice at other golf courses to use traps or chemicals to control the rodent (gophers/ground squirrels) population but with the installation of Barn Owl boxes and getting inhabitation it is possible to control the population in a natural way.  Since the installation a year ago multiple boxes are inhabited and the the golf course has not used traps or chemicals to control the rodent population.

Bee Blocks Installation – Eddi Wahlborg, GCSAA Class “A” Golf Course Superintendent, worked with a local aspiring Eagle Scout, Mark Harris, and installed three bee blocks on and around the golf course.  Two of these blocks are located on the driving range with the third being installed to the right of the third hole. These blocks will serve as a multi-tenant home to native non-stinging bees whose numbers have been depleted with the invasion of the aggressive European honey bees.  These native bees will in turn pollinate and beautify the city owned golf course,

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Chemical (herbicide, fungicide, pesticide) Use Reduction – The Golf Course strictly follows our Integrated Pest Manage Program (IPM) and Chemical Application Management Program (CHAMP) developed by Mike Vickers (past Superintendent) and Eddi Wahlborg with the support of CourseCo and the City of Walnut Creek to minimize chemical use on the course.  Boundary is proud to say that we have reduced chemical use by over 50% in the past two years and are committed to lowering the use of chemicals even further in the future.
 


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