Wildlife to Golfers: Can We Play Through?
Sunset Valley Golf Course, Highland Park

"Golf course superintendents are not necessarily golf people first," admits Brian Green, course superintendent for Sunset Valley Golf Course, managed by the Park District of Highland Park. "My first love is the out-of-doors and nature. In our area, the thing that connects the green space is the golf courses. We're fence to fence with neighboring preserves," Green observes. Indeed, a dozen golf courses range along the Skokie River from Wilmette Golf Club north to Deerpath Golf Club in Lake Forest.

"We take particular efforts to focus on the issues that are bigger than golf, whether it's wildlife, biodiversity, or the watershed of the Skokie River," continues Green. Through a stream restoration project that involved Friends of the Chicago River, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, and the Lake County Stormwater Management Commission, Green got plugged in to efforts at the Chicago Botanic Garden and the Skokie Lagoons. "There are watershed planners working on the entire reach of the stream, and we need to be involved with each other," notes Green.

In addition to teamwork, Green advocates education. With golfers playing 50,000 rounds of golf annually at Sunset Valley, Green recognizes he has a "daily canned audience." He reaches them with "Protected Area" signs, targeted messages on score cards, a community newsletter, and even PowerPoint presentations on the clubhouse television.

See also: Sunset Valley Golf Course Web site.