Moundsville Country Club Naturalizing
By ART LIMANN Staff WriterThe Moundsville Country Club is in the process of naturalizing six areas of its golf course.
Former River High School and Georgetown University golfer Chris Ice, now superintendent of the course, said the effort will not only make the golf course more environmentally friendly but more inviting to wildlife native to the area. In addition, the areas will require less maintenance and save the club money.
Ice, who has been at the club for three years, said "It's a work in progress."
Eventually there may be as many as 15 natural sites on the course. He also hopes to someday have the areas certified by the Audubon Society. Ice is currently working with the West Virginia University Extension Office and the Department of Natural Resources to assure plants, and wildflowers, being introduced to the grounds are native to the area.
Since the project was started, about one ago, Ice said he has already seen more wildlife in the area including birds of prey.
"My job has changed," Ice said. "I've done this at other clubs. You now have to take care of the environment. You also have to be careful with chemicals like fertilizers."
"It's different," club professional golfer Brian Hamric said. "People wonder what we're doing. They think we're just letting these areas go, but there's a plan. We're making other changes on the course as well, like taking out certain old trees. This should not only make the course better but it should be nice to look at when it's done. It helps the aesthetics of the course and gives it some color."
Club President David Buzzard said, "It's kind of unusual to have a private country club that is interested in making its golf course more environmentally friendly. We may be the only club in the state doing something like this."
Other improvements, are also being made at the club. They include a new pump to retrieve water for use on the course, improvements to several bunkers. A new driving range was also recently completed.
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mcmike22
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07-14-09 7:19 PM
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they find someone more friendly and computer literate to assist me.
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mcmike22
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07-14-09 7:18 PM
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he could not take it, he said he was not computer literate and didn’t know how to ring it up. He also said he could not cut us a deal, even though we were only about $15 dollars short for three people to play on cash. I asked him what about if a member wanted to use credit, and he said members could get credit there. It seems like they are all about “members” but when it comes to outside people playing you feel totally unwelcome there. I could easily afford the $1,200 membership and all of the other fees, however why would I if before I’m a member I get treated like an outsider? Another frustrating part about this course is the fact that they don’t have a website, with information and contact numbers. I am now realizing that this place is way behind the times and need some new people not only in charge, but working the counter who are computer literate. There’s no way I’d even consider a membership there after this last experience, not only that I will not even golf there again unless
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mcmike22
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07-14-09 7:17 PM
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As a promotion to entice potential members this course offered a coupon in the newspaper for $37.00 + tax. So my brother and I, along with another buddy went to play. We were right on the border of deciding on a membership, because we all love to play golf and it’s a beautiful course. As another comment I’ll mention that the coupon does not state you can only use it one time, they’ve had it in the paper a few times, and the coupon does not say cash only. The regular price is only $5 more to play, but the guy at the Pro Shop seems adamant about only using the coupon once, which the $5 is nothing to play this beautiful course. We have played a few times in the last month, the first time I didn’t have cash on me and the guy working the shop said his machine was down and they couldn’t take cash, so luckily my brother had some extra cash on him. The next time I took cash just in case it was down again, however yesterday I was hoping to use my card. The same guy working the counter said he
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UNCOMMONSENSE
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07-24-08 10:23 PM
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Kinda makes "avoiding the hazards" take on a whole new meaning!
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UNCOMMONSENSE
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07-24-08 3:25 PM
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So when will they be re-introducing mountain lions, black bears, and timber rattlers into the golf course? They were all native to the area too. THAT should make for a VERY interesting round of golf! With bears, snakes, and mountain lions waiting for you off the fairway, I bet scores would improve dramatically! ;)
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Katabatic
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07-23-08 6:34 PM
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Just be careful that you don't get "naturalized" out of the use of your land. I've heard of a farmer who was advised by a federal farm bureau person to put a small pond on his property to make use of the natural runoff and to reduce his use of water for irrigation by using his pond as a source for irrigation. The federal wildlife people came along and said his pond now was considered to be a "wetlands" sanctuary and that he couldn't fertilize his land due to the potential nitrates contamination of his pond and he couldn't use pesticides because it might hurt the waterfowl that now used his man- made pond. Bottom line is that the guy lost his farm.
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