What now offers spectacular vistas that harken back to the original Links-style courses in Scotland and Britain was once a sheep pasture like any of a hundred others in Southern Ontario.

But times have changed, and that plain old river valley is now recognized as a sensitive watershed and a precious natural resource--a habitat worth restoring and preserving.

While it defies conventional wisdom to integrate golf and habitat conservation, it turns out that given a bit of creativity, an open mind, and a willingness to experiment, there is a lot to recommend this unique combination.

With some strategic mowing and a picturesque landscape, our family has created a protected habitat and Carolinian restoration of which we are extremely proud. By combining this nature preserve with a few walking paths, we have come up with a short golf layout that we hope provides a healthy walking experience for our family and friends.

Our goals for our golf area and our farm are simple: our naturalized areas are pesticide-free; water usage for our vegetable gardens and golf greens is less than 500 gallons per day; and vermi-composting using specialized worms and waste inputs from the farm promises to be our best effort yet to naturally fertilize the gardens and the grass.