The Golf Course Superintendents Association of America’s board of directors selected three recipients for its 2005 President’s Award for Environmental Stewardship.
The President's Award for Environmental Stewardship was established in 1991 to recognize an exceptional environmental contribution to the game of golf: a contribution that further exemplifies the golf course superintendent's image as a steward of the land.
Stephen A. Kealy, certified golf course superintendent at Glendale Country Club in Bellevue, Wash., was recognized for the salmon stream rehabilitation project he initiated at Glendale. Peter Lund, certified golf course superintendent at Rhode Island Country Club in Barrington, R.I., was honored for his involvement with Save the Bay. The third award went to the Oregon Golf Course Superintendents Association for the environmental stewardship guidelines the chapter developed, which are being widely used in Oregon and Washington.
Kealy, Lund and the Oregon GCSA will be presented the award by GCSAA president Mark J. Woodward Feb. 11 at the general session during the GCSAA education conference presented in conjunction with the Golf Industry Show in Orlando, Feb. 7-12.
Kealy, who came to Glendale Country Club in April 1990, is a member and past board of director of the Western Washington Golf Course Superintendents Association and the Northwest Turfgrass Association. He developed and implemented a salmon rehabilitation program at Glendale that required countless hours restoring and maintaining the stream channels, planting native vegetation and walking the streams three to four times per week to collect data. Glendale was named a certified Audubon Golf Course Sanctuary in 1998.
Lund, who has been a member of GCSAA since 1977, is involved with Save the Bay in Rhode Island, an organization that helps educate, protect and restore habitat on and near golf courses in the state. The efforts include restoring over 15 acres of salt marsh along Mussachuck Creek, and providing anadromous fish access to spawning grounds at Rhode Island Country Club. Along with serving on the Rhode Island Golf Course Superintendents Association board of directors, he is also the ambassador for the Rhode Island Golf Course Superintendents Partnership, a group dedicated to teaching golf course superintendents the importance of environmental advocacy on golf courses.
The Oregon GCSA supports research for improving the golf course management profession, its practices and management while recognizing the importance of environmental stewardship and sustainability. Its membership is committed to optimizing golf course management practices to protect the environment within, and those areas surrounding golf courses. In an effort to assist golf course superintendents in their efforts to address environmental issues, the OGCSA has developed environmental stewardship guidelines that consist of four separate, yet interrelated sections that include Best Management Practices, Integrated Pest Management, Water Quality Monitoring and Wildlife Habitat Enhancement.
Previous winners of the President's Award for Environmental Stewardship include:
1991 Cape Cod Study participants
1993 Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program for Golf Courses, administered by Audubon International/sponsored by the USGA
1995 William "Timothy" Hiers, CGCS
1996 USGA Environmental Research Program
1997 Michael Hurdzan, Ph.D., golf course architect
1998 Joseph A. O'Brien, GCSAA chief operating officer
1999 Edward C. "Ted" Horton, CGCS
2000 Thomas L. Watschke, Ph.D.
2001 Michigan Turfgrass Environmental Stewardship Program (MTESP)
2002 Canadian Golf Superintendents Association’s Environmental Management Resource Manual
2003 Center for Resource Management (CRM)
2004 Jeffrey L. Gullikson, CGCS
