Audubon International – the environmentally focused non-profit organization offering members numerous certifications and conservation initiatives to protect the areas where we all live, work, and play – saw its popular Monarchs in the Rough program grow significantly in 2025. Thanks to a grant from The FairWays Foundation, 127 golf courses across the country joined hundreds of other participants to set aside vital habitat for the migrating creatures.
Audubon International is now working with nearly 1,000 golf courses across the United States and Canada to create more than 1,300 out-of-play acres where the iconic butterfly species can lay their eggs and, in caterpillar form, dine on varieties of milkweed specific to the regions where they’re planted by agronomy crews.
“Golf courses continue their positive contribution to the habitat needed,” says Audubon International CEO Christine Kane. “Monarchs in the Rough is an effective and powerful way for courses of all kinds to take part in increasing new habitat for these iconic and beautiful creatures. We’re thrilled so many courses signed on in 2025, and we look forward to adding many more this year and well into the future.
Every course receives a shipment of regionally appropriate milkweed seed and a sign highlighting their participation. Audubon International now handles all elements of the program, working with distributors nationwide to assure healthy milkweed installations. They also provide signage, posters, and technical guidance to assure proper installation and maintenance, and that golf course members are made aware of the efforts their course is making to increase the once-endangered Monarchs population.
Setting aside a minimum of one acre for habitat is usually a straightforward process. Tim McCann, Director of Golf Course Maintenance at Harbour Ridge Golf Club in southeast Florida, found the perfect spot to help fulfill that requirement. “We’ve filled one of our beds with a lot of milkweed,” he says. “It was an old tee [box] that was moved to another location.”
By joining Monarchs in the Rough, golf courses do their part to prevent further monarch butterfly losses by creating the very specific habitat needed during their annual migration across North America, all while gaining recognition as an environmental leader and connecting with their communities in new ways. “We hear from many superintendents that their maintenance crews really appreciate having the opportunity to contribute like this,” Kane says. “They like contributing to something that is part of their own personal core values.”
For more information, visit monarchsintherough.org. To learn more about how your local golf course, community or resort can gain recognition for your environmental efforts or to learn how to expand your initiatives through Audubon International’s numerous environmental certifications, visit www.auduboninternational.org or call toll free: 1-844-767-9051.
