Source: Dallas Morning News
It was the environmental areas that drew golf course superintendent Mark Claburn to Tierra Verde Golf Club in Arlington one year ago. And it was how Claburn and his staff have handled those areas, along with the upkeep of the course, that earned him and Tierra Verde the 2004 Golf Course Superintendent Association of America/Golf Digest Environmental Leaders in Golf Award.
A panel of judges named only four courses in the public, private, resort and international categories. And Tierra Verde captured the public and top overall award for its work as an environmental leader in the community.
"They didn't disturb much of the environment when they built this course," said Claburn, who oversees the 18-hole public course and practice facility on 257 acres. He maintains turf on 92 acres, with the rest devoted to native landscape. "You don't see other players often because it's dense around every hole."
Claburn and his assistant, Tami Busby, work each day to make sure the environmental areas, which include roadrunners, hawks, blue herons and other wildlife you don't normally see on a golf course in the area, are maintained and kept in their natural form.
In 2000, Tierra Verde became the first golf course in Texas to gain Audubon International Signature Series status and was the first municipal course in the world to earn that recognition.
Claburn, 36, said he and his staff use natural fertilizers and fungicides on the Bermuda fairways and TifEagle Bermuda greens instead of chemicals. And he said that even in a hard rain, Tierra Verde drains well.