Every day at Lakeview Golf Course in Loogootee is a day of environmental consciousness as we make every effort possible to care responsibly for the land and all its flora and fauna.

We have benefited from the assistance of GCSAA (the Golf Course Superintendents' Association of America), Tri-State GCSA (the Golf Course Supt.'s. Assn.), the Midwest Turf Foundation, our county extension educator, other golf course managers and superintendents, and from businesses offering a wide array of golf course turf supplies. Some of our best advice has come from local folks, which comes as no surprise. Ideally, we would go totally organic. Though this is not wholly practical, we have used both composted turkey fertilizer from an Indiana firm and fish fertilizer from West Boggs Park in addition to various chemical fertilizers, fungicides and soil conditioners. A drive by the course will attest to the efficacy of this blend of methods and materials.

Through a National Arbor Day Foundation program, we have provided tree seeds and educational materials to grade school classes at both Shoals and Loogootee. Students' seedling trees were planted in 1999. Hopefully this will grow into greater interest and involvement of various community groups in environmentally centered activities like nature tours, birding, and tree identification.

Every golfer knows we have our own little recycling center, where they help separate plastic, aluminum, glass and trash, all of which is periodically transported to our local drop off site. All of our cardboard, magazines and catalogs find their way to "Laura's" as well. Constant vigilance keeps the roadways, fairways, dams, cart paths and roughs clear of accidental or careless litter.

A variety of young flowering trees from the Arbor Day Foundation are currently in our home nursery and will be transplanted to the course once they are large and strong enough to withstand the rigors of the local winds and weather. Native perennial shrubs, bulbs and flowers are gradually being added to the course. West Boggs Park has freely shared with us from their own nursery, so in time we expect the course to be "a thing of beauty and a joy forever" as well as a fine golfing venue.

Golfers come to the course to relax, to compete, to enjoy their sport and their friends, to find that ever-elusive birdie. They require playable greens, decent fairways and minimal hazards and roughs. But there is more to golf than meets the eye. We see golfers every day who rush into the clubhouse, tense and anxious and in a hurry to get out to the first tee box. After their round of golf they come back in, calmed and soothed and smiling. It is not surprising that their new attitude prevails whether they shot a good score or not, because they have been affected by something subtle and wonderful . . . nature at its best.