Teed Off

Sometimes golf courses get a bad name because of the intensive water and chemical needs of the green, particularly in places like Scottsdale, AZ. (I was there recently and learned that they have 200 golf courses ... in the middle of the Sonoran desert!)

Honey bee looking for pollen and nectar at Radrick Farms.
Photo courtesy of Paul Scott.

However, golf courses are by definition dedicated open space, and many golf courses and golf course associations have explicit conservation goals. Along with this great picture of a honey bee, Paul Scott, General Manager of Radrick Farms golf course, sent me Radrick's environmental stewardship goals. 

"We are proud of all the work it details," he writes. Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program for Golf Courses. Groundwater Guardian Tree Site. Community Partner for Clean Streams. Reason to be proud.

Next up for Radrick: on-site honey bees, in partnership with the University of Michigan student beekeepers (who also have bees at Matthaei Botanical Gardens).