Monthly Feature Hosted By:
	Bob Farren, CGCS, Director of Grounds and Golf Course Management for Pinehurst Resort and Country Club

Our feature story this month comes from Wes Leith, Class A member and Superintendent at Wildhorse Golf Course in Davis, California. The experience at Wildhorse Golf Course is another example of golf courses becoming safe refuges for threatened, endangered, or species in need of care. The population of the burrowing owl has been steadily declining in California for the past 40-60 years. The owl’s habitat consists of grasslands and has greatly diminished due to the increase in urban development and changes in agriculture.

Golf courses, with a little creative thinking, continue to offer great opportunities to provide suitable habitat for an incredible range of plant and animal species to offset some of this decline. Wes Leith and the team at Wildhorse Golf Course not only helped the population of the burrowing owls, but they also greatly enhanced the position of the golf course in the community. A local elementary school actively participated in the construction of burrowing mounds.

The project provides a wonderful opportunity for field trips and community involvement for the students. Golf courses have the unique ability to provide habitat for a number of species such as the burrowing owl at Wildlhorse and the red cockaded woodpecker at Pinehurst. It only takes the imagination and resourcefulness of people like Wes to recognize the possibilities and put their thoughts into action.

I congratulate Wes Leith, the community volunteers, and the children from Tafoya Elementary School on a job well done. The burrowing owl and the patrons of the Wildhorse Golf Course have benefited from your efforts.

September's Guest:
	John T. McNerney, Wildlife Resource Specialist, City of Davis

You are likely to encounter more than 18 holes while playing the links at Wildhorse Golf Course in Davis, California. In fact you’re likely to encounter hundreds of them adjacent to the fairways, within the many islands and adjacent open spaces planted with native grasses and flowers. Although these holes may have nothing to do with the game of golf, they have much to do with the management of the golf course in support of the unique little bird called the burrowing owl (Athene cunicularia).

Burrowing owls are small (9.5” in height) with long legs and rounded heads that lack ear tuffs. They nest and roost in small burrows in dry grassland and desert habitats. They eat a variety of small prey items ranging from beetles to mice to birds. Burrowing owls are most active at dusk and dawn, but can be seen standing guard at the burrow entrance any time of the day.

Over the last 40 years, burrowing owls in the northern part of California have been on a steady decline. The conversion of native grasslands to urban development has played a significant role in this decline. However, properly planned and maintained open spaces can provide high quality habitat for the owls and an array of other wildlife. Of particular importance are those open spaces like the Wildhorse Golf Course that occur on the edges of urban development. Such areas are readily used by burrowing owls, acting as a buffer or transition between the concrete and steel of an urban landscape and the more wildlife friendly habitats that surround the development.

The Wildhorse Golf Course has done an outstanding job supporting the presence and conservation of burrowing owls. Their efforts go a long way in both supporting the local population of burrowing owls and showing that golf course operation can indeed be environmentally friendly.