Did you know that your golf course is environmentally
friendly? There are many practices that
we do to both protect the environment and also enhance it. While many of these practices cost more to
do, they are the right things to do.
Some of our practices are as follows:
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HFCC uses slow-release fertilizers on all of the turf
on the course. The use of slow release
fertilizers regulates the release of nitrogen so that the plant only gets what
it needs at that time, therefore very little is wasted or washed through
the soil. We also use natural organic fertilizers that are composted from the poultry industry.
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| Chicken manure being composted into organic fertilizer for use on golf courses |
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The chemicals that we use on the course are of the
highest quality and the most environmentally friendly to do the job at
hand. The products that we have at our
disposal are highly regulated for safety and application. Most products are broken down in the soil, by
soil microbes within a week or two after application. Additionally, we choose products that
chemically bind to the soil or the plant therefore reducing any chances of
runoff or leaching
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| Otter on the bank of one the lakes at HFCC |
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All of our lakes are monitored monthly by Aquascapes
Environmental. Their job is to sample
all of the water entering the property, on the property, and leaving the
property. They sample for fertilizers
and pesticides so that we can better manage our practices throughout the
course. To this date, we have never
failed a test, in fact sometimes we tend to be too clean. What this means is that all the fish caught
at HFCC is safe to eat and your pets are safe to enter the water.
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As we have been replacing aging drainpipe, some areas
have been converted back to natural streams.
This has provided habitat for fish, salamanders, crayfish, etc. which
supports larger wildlife. Additionally,
these streams are far better at controlling erosion than pipe as the streams
slow the velocity of water whereas the pipe tends to increase the velocity
which leads to more aggressive erosion.
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Since most of our equipment is run by hydraulics, leaks
and broken hoses are a fact of life.
While the hoses are inspected daily, breaks still happen
unexpectedly. Since regular hydraulic
fluid is petroleum based, it will kill the turf and contaminate the soil should a leak occur. As a result, we use a “vegetable based” hydraulic
oil in all of our hydraulic equipment.
It costs almost 3 times more than standard hydraulic fluid but does not
contaminate the soil and does not kill the turf.
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Speaking of equipment, we have been some of the earliest adopters of electric mowers. We
mow the greens with a hybrid walk mower that uses a small gas engine to run a
generator. The generator produces the
electricity needed for both the reels and the "wheels". This type of set up is very efficient and
uses half the fuel as traditional all gas mowers. Better yet, the quality of the cut is
superior to traditional mowers.
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| Electric hybrid walking greens mower |
These are just a few of the things we do at HFCC to protect
our environment. The G&G committee
and the maintenance staff understand the value of our wonderful environment
here at HFCC, its one of those features that make HFCC such a special place.
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| Flower bed at HFCC which provides food (seeds) for birds in the winter |
