‘Royal Shenny’ is an environmental prince
Eric Morrison and his friends have a nickname for Shennecossett Golf Course.
Royal Shenny.
They came up with the idea after playing courses in Ireland and Scotland.
“Seeing (Shenny) is a links style course, my buddies and I named it that,” said Morrison, the course superintendent for 24 years. “We haven’t been dubbed by the Queen or anything, so it’s unofficial.”
While awaiting word from the Queen, Shennecossett can celebrate receiving another honor.
Thanks to Morrison and the rest of his staff, Shennecossett earned the designation as a “Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary.”
According to Audubon International, Shennecossett is one of over 900 courses in the world with that certification.
“Shennecossett Golf Course has shown a strong commitment to its environmental program,” said Christine Kane, CEO at Audubon International, in a release. “They are to be commended for preserving the natural heritage of the area by protecting the local watershed and providing a sanctuary for wildlife on the golf course property.”
To achieve that status, Shennecossett had to show it’s maintaining “a high degree of environmental quality” in the following areas: environmental planning, wildlife and habitat management, outreach and education, chemical use reduction and safety, water quality management and water conservation.
Shennecossett first received that distinction in 2005 and it has been recertified every few years since then.
“Every three years, you’ve got to get recertified again,” Morrison said Thursday. “Either you have to do a course tour with somebody or you’ve got to do a case project and submit that. So we did a butterfly and hummingbird garden one year out on five.
“The old fifth tee, we transformed that into a pollinator garden. So that was one of our projects. In the native areas, we let the milkweed grow for the monarch butterflies. It’s basically demonstrating and putting down on paper what we already did anyway.”
While it takes extra work during an already busy time for Morrison, it’s well worth it.
Morrison takes great pride in keeping the golf course property in terrific condition and maintaining its good reputation.
“Years ago, there was a big negative perception about golf and the environment, that we use a lot of fertilizers, overuse water and overuse chemicals,” Morrison said. “This is a way to show that you’re a steward of your environment and taking care of your property. Knowing we’re right on the river, we don’t want to do anything to pollute it.”
Once again, Shennecossett will host the Connecticut Senior on Monday and Tuesday.
The tournament gives Morrison’s crew a chance to show off the course.
“But we try to do that all year long,” Morrison said. “Our staff does a great job taking care of the place. All the kudos goes to them. They put in some hard work.”
Short putts
• Shennecossett is looking for volunteers to work the Connecticut Senior Open on Monday and Tuesday. Call the golf shop at (860) 448-1867 for more information.
• The 16th annual Ledyard High School Athletics golf tournament was a huge success. A full field of 144 golfers played at Lake of Isles South Course on July 1. The event also supported the Matt Buriak Scholarship Foundation.
The foursome of Ray Powell, Brian Johnson, Lucas Payette and Marc Francis won the tournament on a tiebreaker at 12-under. Second place went to Steven Sweeney, Tom Goebel, Jimmy Jones and Corey Jones, while the team of Brian Goodell, Mike Perrotti, Mike Burbige and Pete Dargenio took third.
Colten Ray won closest to the pin honors, while Corey Jones (men) and Gina Burrows (women) had the longest drives.
Tournament organizer Jim Buonocore expressed his appreciation for the event’s sponsors and Lake of Isles staff members Justin Carter, Nick Spano and Bethany Arico.
• Tom Allen won the Pequot Golf Club masters championship a few weeks ago and David Farwell finished as the runner-up. Bill Boots was the masters net champion.
Hole-in-one club: Ed Jutila recorded an ace last month while playing in the Pequot senior league, accomplishing the feat with a seven wood hybrid on the sixth hole.
In other club news, Bob Dimock shot his age, scoring an 80.
• Congrats to Andy MacMahon for winning the Elmridge Golf Course senior club championship. He needed three extra holes to defend Anthony Kargul in the final match. Tony Scavello won the first flight, beating George Luzzi, while second flight champ Paul Chiaradio knocked off Jim Celico.
• Qualifying action for the Shennecossett Golf Course men’s club championship will be held this weekend. Steve Chevalier, the defending champ, is in the field.
• David Marshall of Quinnatisset Country Club in Thompson reached the semifinals of the Connecticut State Golf Association’s 18th Senior Match Play Championship held in June at Indian Hill Country Club, while Timothy Murray of Quinnatisset lost in the quarterfinals.
• At the CSGA’s 87th Mixed Team Championship on July 1 at Clinton Country Club, the Stonington Country Club duo of Paige Munro-Delotto and Blake Glissmeyer placed sixth with a 6-over 78. Dennis and Lori Medeiros of Quinnatisset took 10th at 81 and Keith and Michelle Murphy of Stonington CC finished 12th at 84.
• Andrew Cavasino of Great Neck Country Club made the long drive to the Golf Course of Avon worth it, earning a spot in the Connecticut Mid-Amateur (Aug. 26) by shooting a 77 at a qualifying event on July 1.
• In Connecticut PGA Junior Tour action, Tyler Hollis of Norwich tied for fourth with a 3-over 75 at the 18-hole Lyman Orchards Open on July 2. Caroline Cleary of Stonington tied for third at 88 in the girls’ competition.
• Caroline Goderre, The Day’s All-Area Girls’ Golfer of the Year, placed third with an 83 at the Cas Coscina Junior Invitational on June 27 at Stanley Golf Course in New Britain. Olivia Hoagland of New London was eighth with an 88.
• Zorah Williams of Stonington Country Club finished seventh at the 3rd Connecticut Girls’ Junior Amateur held this week at Watertown Golf Club. Williams had a three-round total of 233 (72-83-78).
Upcoming events
• Qualifying is underway for the Elmridge men’s club championship. First-round and second-round action take place the weekend of July 20-21. The 36-hole final will be July 27.
• The 98th Norwich Invitational will start on Friday, July 19, with qualifying-round action and culminate with the finals on Sunday, July 21. Last year, heavy rain forced the championship to be moved to mid-August. Chris DeLucia beat Holden Smith, 4 and 3, to earn his second Norwich Invite title.
• The 59th Connecticut Women’s Amateur will run from July 15-17 at Tashua Knolls Golf Course.
• Two Connecticut PGA Junior Tour events will be held this month in the region. The 36-hole Champions Tour Classic is set for July 23-24 at Fox Hopyard in East Haddam, while the Nine Hole Old Lyme Junior Open is July 29.
• The 90th Connecticut Open will tee off on July 29 at Shorehaven Golf Club.
• Please send golf results and information to g.keefe@theday.com.
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