Congratulations golfers! Championship Flight Winner…Brian Charles; A-Flight Winner…Noah Muehlfelt; B-Flight Winner…Tom McCulloch and
C-Flight Winner…Wayne Heuertz

Pottawatomie Golf Course has retained its designation as a “Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary” through the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program for Golf Courses, an Audubon International program.

Participation is designed to help course personnel plan, organize, implement, and document a comprehensive environmental management program and receive recognition for their efforts. To reach certification, a course must demonstrate that they are maintaining a high degree of environmental quality in a number of areas including: Environmental Planning, Wildlife & Habitat Management, Outreach and Education, Chemical Use Reduction and Safety, Water Conservation, and Water Quality Management.

“Pottawatomie Golf Course has shown a strong commitment to its environmental program. They are to be commended for their efforts to provide a sanctuary for wildlife on the golf course property,” said Tara Donadio, Director of Cooperative Sanctuary Programs at Audubon International.

Pottawatomie Golf Course is one of 55 courses in Illinois and 896 courses in the world to hold the honor. Golf courses from the United States, Africa, Australia, Central America, Europe, South America, and Southeast Asia have also achieved certification in the program. The golf course was designated as a Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary in 1997. After designation, courses go through a recertification process every three years.

This year the recertification process, coordinated by Denise Gillett-Parchert, Superintendent at Pottawatomie Golf Course, required a visit by a local community representative. Mary Ochsenschlager, retired Interpretive Naturalist and Natural Land Manager, was given a tour of the course and sent her observations to Audubon International.

“We see the site visit as an important component of a course’s recertification,” stated Donadio. “It provides an objective verification of some of the more visible aspects of the course’s environmental management activities. In addition, it offers an opportunity for golf course representatives to share publicly some of the voluntary actions they have taken to protect and sustain the land, water, wildlife, and natural resources around them.”

Ranked 15th Best 9-Hole Golf Course in America by Golf World magazine!

Nestled on the banks of the Fox River and used annually by tens of thousands of people, the 9-hole regulation Pottawatomie Golf Course, which is owned and operated by the St. Charles Park District, is certainly the most beautiful golf course in the Fox Valley area offering scenic views with lush landscapes along the shore of the Fox River.

As the only 9-hole public golf course for the St. Charles community, Pottawatomie Golf Course is a quality course that provides golfing opportunities for all ages and abilities at an affordable price.

The golf course was originally designed in 1939 by the pioneer of golf course architecture, Robert Trent Jones, Sr., who capitalized on the course’s location along the banks of the Fox River. It is here you will find his first island green design on hole 3.

A typical week starts with daily (7 days/week) mowing greens, changing cups, raking bunkers, moving tee markers, picking up garbage, patrolling for sticks and cleaning/fueling machines. And that’s all before 7am! Monday, Wednesday and Friday schedules add the tasks of rolling and blowing off greens; mowing approaches, tees, fairways; mowing green and tee banks, and, of course, mowing rough.

Depending upon the season, there’s the extra jobs all around the golf course including prepping flower beds, watering, weeding, fertilizing, mulching, tree/plant trimming, adding sand to bunkers, grinding stumps/branches and so much more!

Another time-consuming task is pothole duty all season long. With all the rain this year, staff can hardly keep up with them. And let’s not even talk about what needs to be done if it floods! The challenges change from year to year, but the goal is to provide you a well-maintained and beautiful course for your enjoyment.

This year, there’s several new crew members who have done a great job learning fast and getting the job done. Please feel free to pass along your “at-a-boys” to the crew!

If it’s September, it’s aerification time! Yes, time to punch those dreaded little holes that mess up your perfect putt. Please believe me when I say this task is as painful for us as it is for your putter!

Aerification is necessary to amend the soil, reduce compaction and reduce thatch. PGC’s problem greens are #2, because the soil is similar to concrete and #7 because it has original native soil. Without aerification, we would probably loose parts or all of these greens due to compaction. In the spring we used a hollow tine, which means we removed all of the soil in each hole and filled it with topdressing sand. This time we are going to use a solid tine, which just puts a hole in the green. The up side of solid tines is faster recovery time for you and less labor for us. Good management practices recommend hollow tines should be used on golf greens once a year.

The turf covers used on the greens are made of a breathable fabric that allows for sun and water infiltration while keeping the surface under the tarp warmer than the air above it.

There are many benefits for using covers such as, reduces winter kill, earlier green up, reduces fertilizer evaporation, and promotes healthy roots. Those are all great reasons to use covers from an agronomics point of view, but the main reason we cover greens #3, #4 and #6 is to keep the geese from picking at the turf during the January thaws.

Those greens seem to melt off much quicker than any other spot on the course, so they become quite vulnerable to the ferocious appetite of hungry geese. Unfortunately, not everyone settles down for a long winters nap!