More than a hundred years ago when the sport of golf was born on the Scottish coast, golf courses were simply bits of turf planted between naturally occurring trees and plants. The first designers walked the breezy seaside dunes and hillocks, shaping their layouts not with bulldozers, but according to the lay of the land. About the middle of the twentieth century, as golf experienced a growth spurt in the United States, vast stretches of freshly mowed, "manicured" grass became the norm, and new courses were carved out of the landscape, rather than blending into it.

Due to public demand, the natural look is returning to golf, and the golf industry is responding with enthusiasm and creativity. Protection of water sources and wildlife habitat are top issues. The edges of fairways are left to grow knee-high with native grasses and wildflowers. Playing surfaces are often islands between wild places, and a forced carry over a patch of cacti, a creek or a rocky canyon is not uncommon.

Golf legend and course designer, Jack Nicklaus, said, "When I first look at designing a hole, I consider what Mother Nature has already created on that property... I don't believe in forcing an idea on a piece of land, but rather, I blend my ideas with the natural environment and let it help me shape the design. I guess you could say that Mother Nature is a co-designer of each of my courses."

The only Nicklaus-designed course that bears his name, Nicklaus North Golf Course in British Columbia lies in a pristine valley below a crown of snow-capped peaks and Whistler Mountain. Part of Whistler Resort, the highest rated golf resort in Western Canada, Nicklaus North was lightly laid on a rugged, densely forested site. A quarter of the property was left untouched, including a large lake, ponds and streams. The remnant of an ancient glacier, Green Lake is an icy hazard, and a landing site for float planes. Whistler's famous "River of Golden Dreams" meanders through the fairways and feisty Fitzsimmons Creek creates havoc for golfers on the eighteenth hole, where it fronts the green along with a huge cottonwood tree.

Creamy white and bright red water lilies bloom on the pond near the fifth hole, where blue-winged teal chatter and hide in the bulrushes. Great Blue herons stalk about, fishing in the tall reeds, rising on six-foot wingspans to fly off when a golf balls land in the water.

Superintendent Darren Burns said, "Wildlife is part of our everyday life, here. Of our three resident black bears, one of them often sleeps between the third and fourth holes, and he sits on top of a garbage can, there, watching the players. I like to see the wood ducks swimming around behind the first hole, and the ospreys, fishing for Dolly Varden trout in the lake. We build brush piles and leave snags for small animals and birds, and keep bird boxes for a variety of species. Bald eagles are very common."

The golfing season at Whistler runs from May through the middle of October, when the alders blaze red and aspens are golden against the firs lining the fairways. Another Whistler course, Chateau Whistler Golf Club at the base of Blackcomb Mountain was designed by Robert Trent Jones, Jr., to let nature take its course in a tilting, high-altitude terrain studded with dramatic granite outcroppings. Cascading across the course are three glacier-fed streams, spawning grounds for Rainbow and Kokanee trout. Black bears gorge on wild berries in the summertime, while coyotes and deer stand their ground on the edges of the forest. Golfers in the know bring their binoculars and cameras for the daily pageant of golden eagles, swooping osprey, and a resident pileated woodpecker.

About forty of the Nicklaus Design courses in the United States are involved in Audubon International programs. A leading partner with the golf industry, the independent environmental organization, Audubon International (AI) offers education and conservation assistance to more than 2300 courses throughout the United States, Canada and around the world.

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