Stone Creek Golf Club in Oregon's Clackamas County is not far from my sister's house, and I visited the course and met with superintendent David Phipps on a recent visit to Oregon. We looked at the course on a busy Saturday morning, and I had a look again at the course and Phipps in the CNBC video "Going for the Green" that you can see above. One thing that Phipps mentions in the CNBC video is the relatively low water use on the course, particularly in the roughs and other areas around perimeter of the playing corridors. This is a practice that could be implemented at more courses in Asia. If grasses are chosen that can withstand drought, then it is going to save money and provide improved playing conditions by avoiding water application to areas outside of the main playing corridors.

At Stone Creek, the management of the property goes beyond just the playing corridors. Phipps showed me the wildlife corridors that go through the course and that provide shelter for the many types of birds and mammals and other wildlife that make the course home. The concept of wildlife corridors was also discussed at the recent IGOLF seminar at Singapore's Keppel Club. One thing that I found especially interesting at Stone Creek was a colony of small pollinating bees in a rather nondescript patch of the rough. Phipps has been working with the Xerces Society to manage the property in a way that will maximize the health of the insect populations there.

Stone Creek Golf Club is a Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary and the Club along with superintendent Phipps have been recognized many times by the Environmental Leaders in Golf Awards.