Audubon International adds 127 golf courses to Monarchs in the Rough

Audubon International’s popular Monarchs in the Rough program grew again in 2025.

Thanks to a grant from The FairWays Foundation, 127 golf courses across the country joined hundreds of other participants to set aside vital habitat for the migrating creatures. The nonprofit is now working with nearly 1,000 golf courses across the United States and Canada to create more than 1,300 out-of-play acres where the butterfly species can lay eggs and, in caterpillar form, dine on varieties of milkweed specific to the regions where they’re planted by agronomy crews. 

“Golf courses continue their positive contribution to the habitat needed,” Audubon International CEO Christine Kane said. “Monarchs in the Rough is an effective and powerful way for courses of all kinds to take part in increasing new habitat for these iconic and beautiful creatures. We’re thrilled so many courses signed on in 2025, and we look forward to adding many more this year and well into the future.”

Every participating course receives a shipment of regionally appropriate milkweed seed and a sign highlighting their participation. Audubon International now handles all elements of the program, working with distributors nationwide to assure healthy milkweed installations. They also provide signage, posters and technical guidance to assure proper installation and maintenance, and that golf course members are made aware of the efforts their course is making to increase the once-endangered monarch population.

Setting aside a minimum of one acre for habitat is usually a straightforward process. Tim McCann, director of golf course maintenance at Harbour Ridge Golf Club in southeast Florida, found the perfect spot to help reach that requirement. “We’ve filled one of our beds with a lot of milkweed,” he said. “It was an old tee [box] that was moved to another location.”

Monarchs in the Rough is designed to prevent further monarch butterfly losses by creating the very specific habitat needed during their annual migration across North America

“We hear from many superintendents that their maintenance crews really appreciate having the opportunity to contribute like this,” Kane said. “They like contributing to something that is part of their own personal core values.”

Want to be part of the program? Visit monarchsintherough.org or call Audubon International at 1-844-767-9051.