A crowning achievement

Membership drives are common practice among golf courses. Traditionally, the focus of those campaigns is, of course, attracting golfers. However, a non-traditional membership drive is now underway whose focus is not only on people — specifically superintendents — but also on butterflies.

Monarchs, to be precise.

Audubon International, a leading non-profit committed to promoting sustainable practices and environmental stewardship, has relaunched its Monarchs in the Rough membership drive with the objective of saving America’s iconic monarch butterfly.

It’s an effort worthy of our attention if for no other reason than monarch butterflies bring beauty to every place they announce their graceful presence thanks to delicate flashes of their orange wings. Beyond that, they contribute to the health of our planet by pollinating many types of wildflowers. They’re also an important food source for birds, small animals and other insects. And did we mention that they are a sight to behold?

Unfortunately, they’re also in danger.

Recent studies have shown dramatic population losses of monarchs, ranging from 50 percent to more than 90 percent. Their search for food is increasingly affected by climate change, increased use of pesticides and natural disasters, all resulting in a loss of habitat.

The Monarchs in the Rough initiative, which is supported by The FairWays Foundation, is aimed at protecting and restoring important habitats for monarchs and other pollinators. The program connects and supports superintendents and other golf course staff as they plan, install and manage habitat projects for monarchs on their courses.

The nourishment they seek is milkweed.

The genus Asclepias, commonly known as milkweed, comprises more than 100 species, the best known of which are North American wildflowers. Milkweed is the host plant for the monarch butterfly and its only food source. Monarch caterpillars and butterflies breed only where milkweed grows.

And here’s where superintendents and other keepers of sports fields and neighboring open spaces can help. Here are three steps to make an immediate impact:

1. Enroll in the Monarchs in the Rough program. Audubon International helps superintendents by providing milkweed seed for distribution into out-of-play areas on North American golf courses.
2. Learn and teach about monarchs. Weighing less than a dime, monarchs travel a migration path of 3,000 miles — a journey that requires generations to complete. It’s an amazing and compelling story many of your members and guests will find fascinating.
3. Start your own monarch gardens. Planting both milkweed and nectar plants to encourage monarchs to feed and breed requires only a plot of 100 square feet. Outdoor container gardens are also a good option where space is limited, according to Monarch Gardens.

Audubon International and the Monarchs in the Rough program make protecting monarchs easy. Audubon will provide regionally appropriate milkweed seed — enough to establish an acre of high-quality monarch habitat (primarily in U.S. states west of the Mississippi, along with Great Lakes states and central Canada) when planted with wildflowers supplied by the course. Milkweed plantings can be supported in other areas on a case-by-case basis through other sources of funding as they become available.

“By joining Monarchs in the Rough, golf courses can do their part to prevent further monarch losses while gaining recognition as an environmental leader and connecting with their communities in new ways,” Audubon International CEO Christine Kane says.

More than 900 courses have signed up.