Highland Park golf course wins awards

The Highland Park Park District’s Sunset Valley Golf Course was named the national winner in the public category and received the highest honor as the overall winner of the 2010 Environmental Leaders in Golf Awards.

The Superintendents Association of America and Golf Digest announced the award, which each year recognizes courses committed to environmental stewardship, officials said in a news release.

“Winning this award is a tremendous honor that recognizes the work of many people who have helped us accomplish quality projects throughout the years,” said Brian Green, Sunset Valley’s golf course superintendent.

Park district officials said Green was instrumental in Sunset Valley receiving this award.

The entire golf course is located in the Chicago River watershed, with more than 70 percent of the course on the flood plain. Green’s crew has completed several projects along the north branch of the Chicago River that help the surrounding areas’ stormwater runoff.

A bank stabilization project was completed in partnership with the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, Stormwater Management Commission and funding through the Clean Water Act.

Bioswales have been introduced throughout the course that help slow and filter flood water and create excellent wildlife habitat. Throughout the years, Sunset Valley Golf Course has fledged more than 300 eastern bluebirds and 400 tree swallows, officials said in the news release.

Green and crew members also have worked with the park district’s parks and planning departments to install a rain cistern and rain garden, a native vegetation buffer, on the course. This initiative was funded by a grant from the Illinois EPA.

The cistern collects 4,800 gallons of rainwater per month from the maintenance building roof and stores it for use in watering greenhouse plants. Additional runoff is channeled through the rain garden and into the pond on the first hole.

A 4-acre butterfly garden and a bluebird trail, with 27 boxes throughout the course, are also maintained by Green and crew members. The Illinois Audubon Society has listed the course as a bird watching site along the Lake Michigan flyway.

Sunset Valley Golf Course sits minutes from the Lake Michigan shoreline and downtown Highland Park.