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Connect To Protect Tour

I founded Eco Turf Consulting, dedicated to creating Best Management Practices (BMPs), designed to preserve and protect water quality, pollinator and wildlife habitat on golf courses, in 2019.  Over the past eight years I have dedicated myself (mostly voluntarily) to creating golf BMPs and educating the golf industry, particularly golf course superintendents, on the importance of the voluntary implementation of BMPs.  In addition, I assisted in the creation of a national BMP template, used by all 50 states as a guide for creating state level BMPs.  I also helped guide superintendent associations in the establishment and implementation of BMPs for several states.

Because it’s widely spread around the country, golf’s connection to the environment ultimately links it to a majority of people living in the United States.  Depending on your perspective, you may believe golf is harmful to the environment, or, you may recognize, particularly in urban areas, the important role golf plays in keeping open space in a city constructed of cement and asphalt.  Either way you look at it, it is undeniable that golf has a unique responsibility in helping to protect our water resources and, pollinator and wildlife habitat. Best Management Practices for golf provide a science-based approach to protecting water quality from potential risks. 

The next step in Golf’s evolution toward recognizing its responsibilities related to environmental stewardship is to develop individual facility level BMPs.  Individual facilities can utilize their state BMP document as a template to help guide them in creating their own personalized Facility BMP Manual designed to address their unique setting. In fact, every golf course, whether it’s an existing course, an existing course undergoing a renovation, or a new course under construction, should implement BMPs.

To help raise awareness of the importance of individualized golf facility BMP development, I am riding my bike across the country and offering a free consultation visit to any course along my way.  My route will cover over 3,000 miles and take me through Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, Wyoming, Idaho, and Oregon.  I will offer to evaluate any interested facility’s current BMP programs in areas such as; Irrigation, Integrated Pest Management (IPM), Nutrient Management, Cultural Practices, Facility Management, Landscape, and Pollinators.  As I make my way across the country I will also produce blog and vlog posts highlighting the BMP programs these courses have implemented.  This content will be posted on my You Tube channel (Eco Turf Consulting) and shared via Twitter (@ecoturfconsult) and Instagram (@eco.turf.consulting).  All of the details of my adventure can be found on my website at EcoTurfConsulting.com. 

My goal is to raise awareness within the golf industry of the importance for golf course facilities to adopt BMPs and to demonstrate, to people outside the golf community, golf’s dedication to preserving and protecting water quality, pollinators and wildlife habitat.

Organizer

Ken Benoit
Organizer
Bedford, NY

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