The U-M Golf Course has been named a Community Partners for Clean Streams Program (CPCS) member by Washtenaw County for its efforts to promote and maintain business practices that protect water quality.
By completing a series of requirements related to water management, storm water runoff, fertilizer and pesticide usage and storage, and waste management, Washtenaw County now publicly recognizes the golf course as a partner in the CPCS program.
"We are pleased to be recognized by Washtenaw County as a sustainability partner," says Chantel Jackson, general manager of the golf course. "This is the first step of a long-term plan to look at all sustainability programs that are out there and to take the necessary efforts to get more involved in them. We are committed to being great stewards of the environment in how we operate the U-M Golf Course.
The CPCS is a voluntary, cooperative effort between the Washtenaw County Water Resources Commissioner's Office and Washtenaw County businesses, institutional landowners and multi-family residential complexes. The goal of the program is to help identify practical, cost-effective ways to protect Washtenaw County waterways through pollution prevention. CPCS is a cost-free initiative that provides information, technical advice and recognition to participants.
"In making a commitment to fulfill the requirements of the program, the University of Michigan Golf Course has demonstrated a desire to protect Washtenaw County waterways by promoting business practices that protect water quality," Washtenaw County Water Resources Commissioner Janis Borbin says in the letter notifying the university of its recognition.
The U-M Golf Course was designed in the late 1920s by Alister MacKenzie, one of golf's all-time greatest architects. The Board of Regents unofficially opened the course in the fall of 1930 as the first golfers to play the new U-M Golf Course. The course officially opened in the spring of 1931 and immediately drew praise as one of the finest in America. At the time of its opening, it became just the fourth course to be located on a college campus. The U-M Golf Course is one of only six MacKenzie-designed golf courses in the United States, including the famed Augusta National.