Maple Leaf Golf Club achieves certification

Golf Course News, Jan 2002

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. - The Maple Leaf Golf Club, maintained by International Golf Maintenance, has achieved certification in the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program (ACSP).

Located here along the west coast of Florida, between Sarasota and Fort Myers, the Maple Leaf facility joined the program in July of 1998 and now has become the 53rd golf course in Florida and the 340th course in the world to reach the challenging designation.

"We preformed a bird inventory, completed water quality testing and built bird houses throughout the property," said superintendent Aaron Warstler. "We also mapped natural habitat and chemical usage areas."

Water comes into play on almost every hole. "My team went all out to achieve this designation," Warstler said. "In the process, we discovered that our course is home to hawks, eagles, ospreys, great horned owls, blue herons, egrets and cranes."

A semi-private club, Maple Leaf was built in two phases. The first nine was constructed in 1976 and the second in 1980. Designed by Lane Marshall and Ward Northrup, the course is a par 62 that plays to 3,915 yards.

As many as seven IGM-maintain courses have already received certification, and the more than 90 courses contracted with the maintenance outsourcing company are all enrolled in the ACSP.