No Sustainable Measure Is ‘Overlooked’ at This Public Penn Course

Though it’s a safe bet that plenty of smiles are turned upside down out Happy Valley way – busted football season, new coach, uncertain future for the Nittany Lions – it’s considerably sunnier in Lancaster, Pa., where Overlook Golf Club continues its winning environmental ways.

A public course racking up some 50,00 Amish Country rounds each year, Overlook achieved certification in the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary for Golf Program this spring. Erick Strickler, the property’s head spray technician, took the reins on the road to Audubon International’s flagship certification over the past several years, earning solid buy-in from all stakeholders along the way.

“We did first the certification process on our general operating budget,” he said recently as the course’s practice range reopened after a country music concert. “We were able to fit line items in here and there. Our superintendent and director of golf [Ken Ord] were on board, as was the township assistant manager – he was very supportive and wanted to be kept updated on everything and pass the word onto the commissioner. As far as funding, it was very easy to be able to do things without having to jump through hoops and finding a bunch of different avenues to get things [moving forward] so well.”

GCSAA Superintendent George Manos, who had previously helped nearby Lancaster Country Club earn certification, was familiar with the process and enthusiastic about Overlook taking it on. “I approached him and he said, ‘If you want to take the reins, go for it,’” Strickler says. “So 20, 25 years later, it finally happened.”

He wasted no time gaining public and government buy-in for the good work he and the entire Overlook team had accomplished. He made presentations to Lancaster’s board of commissioners and at the town’s Earth Day festival. “The golf course [also] has Facebook and Instagram pages, and through the township as well,” he says. “We have two avenues – not just general golfers but the general public.”

It’s the golfers’ reactions that matter most in terms of the course’s continued popularity, and on that front, things are going very well. “Everybody loves it. They love the idea of the wildflower area. They kept asking me this spring, ‘when’s it going to do something?’ We had a dry spring here, then all of a sudden things started to grow, started to flower. They saw the potential. They enjoy the pollinator area by the pro shop. So everybody’s on board and in tune with it.”

For any course but especially a busy public venue, “in tune” also means in harmony with its environment and the creatures inhabiting it. Overlook’s two ponds attract blue and green herons, mallards, the occasional osprey and other birds, while the area around it is home to many other species of land and sky. “We adjoin one of the township parks, which is so large that most of it is non-maintained – we have the playgrounds and ball fields and a walking path, but there’s still a lot of woods in there too. So that helps,” Strickler says. “We also want to start an Adopt-a-Box program where golfers can donate funds to adopt a bluebird box. There’s a great Bluebird Society in Lancaster County, so we’re going to join with them to try and get some houses up across the property. We have a healthy population of bluebird now, so I don’t establishing nests in boxes will be a problem.”

As for turf treatment, Manos’ crew uses only organic materials and continues to “expand no-mow areas.” Strickler says that in 2026, Overlook plans to budget for a fleet of autonomous that will “save a lot of manpower and fuel use.”

In all, Strickler and the entire Overlook family are committed to taking their recent Audubon International certification seriously, and doing everything they can to strengthen their commitment. “We are still moving ahead on different ideas,” he concludes. “We’re small, only 70 landlocked acres, so the worry originally was that we really can’t do much. But it’s worked out well. The golfers enjoy it. We just need to keep it up.”

For more, visit www.overlookgolfcourse.com. For more information on Audubon International and its certification programs, visit, www.auduboninternational.org.