Michigan Golf Journal July 2018

Environmentally Friendly things the right way. That’s another reason why the hives ĂƌĞ ƐƵĐĐĞƐƐĨƵů͘͟ Time magazine has cited the use of pesticides in agriculture as a main reason for the declining population of some 700 North American species of bees. Miller said that Executive Chef Brian Beland spearheaded the initial idea ƉĞƌ ƚŚĞ ŐƌĂƐƐ ƌŽŽƚƐ ĨĂƌŵͲƚŽͲ table movement, to utilize the honey that’s extracted into theme dinners and create a niche for the membership to take pride in. ƵĐŬ͛Ɛ ZƵŶ ĂĚĚĞĚ ŝƚƐ ĨŝƌƐƚ hive in 2017 and placed it ŵŽƌĞ ƚŚĂŶ ϮϱϬ LJĂƌĚƐ ĨƌŽŵ the 18 th ŚŽůĞ͘ /ƚ ǁĂƐ ǀĞƌLJ successful to the point honey was jarred and sold to customers and the nearby garden the course added produces fresh vegetables for use in customer dining and for staff to take home. ͞>ĂƐƚ LJĞĂƌ ǁĂƐ ŽƵƌ ĮƌƐƚ ƐĞĂƐŽŶ ǁŝƚŚ ƚŚĞ ďĞĞƐ͕͟ ^ǁĞĞƚ ƐĂŝĚ͘ ͞/ ƌĞĂĚ ĂŶ ĂƌƟĐůĞ ĂďŽƵƚ Ă ĐŽƵƌƐĞ in the Chicago area that was raising bees and had a garden. They were in the Chicago area ĂŶĚ / ƚŚŽƵŐŚƚ ŝĨ ƚŚĞLJ ĐĂŶ ĚŽ ƚŚĂƚ there we could do it at Bucks ZƵŶ ĂƐ ǁĞůů͘͟ Sweet admitted the team’s inexperience with hives and the unusual winter/spring temperature extremes this year killed off the hive but they hope to bring it back to life yet this year. “We do all of the things on the course to leave the land ďĞƩĞƌ ƚŚĂŶ ǁĞ ĨŽƵŶĚ ŝƚ͕͟ ^ǁĞĞƚ said. “We raise worms and use ƚŚĞ sĞƌŵĞͲĐŽŵƉŽƐƚ ĂƐ Ă ƚĞĂ that we spray on our greens to increase their health. We use ŵŝŶŝŵĂů ĂŵŽƵŶƚƐ ŽĨ ĨĞƌƟůŝnjĞƌ͕ we protect our water resources ǁŝƚŚ ďƵīĞƌ ƐƚƌŝƉƐ͘͟ ƵĐŬ͛Ɛ ZƵŶ ĂůƐŽ ŚĂƐ ƚǁŽ ůŝǀĞ ŐŽĂƚƐ ͞ŽŶ ƐƚĂī͟ ǁŚŝĐŚ ĂƌĞ ƵƐĞĚ ŝŶ grazing hilly areas that are tough tomow or maintain otherwise. “One more thing that we do on the course to increase pollinators is leave most of the Milkweed on the course ďĞ͕͟ ^ǁĞĞƚ ĂĚĚĞĚ͘ ͞dŚĞ Monarch Butterfly only uses this plant to reproduce. We have been doing this practice for a number of years and have witnessed an increased ƉŽƉƵůĂƚŝŽŶ ŽĨ ƚŚĞ ďƵƚƚĞƌĨůLJ͘͟ Perhaps the coolest ĂƚƚƌĂĐƚŝŽŶ ƚŚĞƐĞ ƚǁŽ ƉŽůĂƌͲ ŽƉƉŽƐŝƚĞͲůŽĐĂƚŝŽŶ ĐŽƵƌƐĞƐ have in common is the American Bald Eagle. The ŽĨ ĞƚƌŽŝƚ ŚĂƐ Ă ĨƵůůͲƐŝnjĞĚ nest in a tree between the 3 rd and 17 th fairways the size of Ă ƐŵĂůů ĐĂƌ͕ ĂŶĚ ƵĐŬ͛Ɛ ZƵŶ has two eagle visitors on a regular basis.