UMD Golf Course Scores as Most Biodiverse 18 Holes in the U.S.

On a trip to the University of Maryland Golf Course earlier this year, Jingkang Wu ’27 had a stroke of luck — just not with a golf club. The biological sciences major was elated to discover a hairy big-headed ant, a rarely observed native insect. 

Finding it was no fluke, though: Wu was recording plant, animal and insect specimens he found on the course at the BioBlitz, a one-day competition sponsored by Audubon International to showcase the ability of golf courses to provide habitat for more than just weekend duffers. 

This year, UMD’s course took top honors in the international species-counting contest for the largest number identified by participants, 437. It earned the biodiversity award with only a few hours of 30 volunteers combing the course for species to avoid disrupting players.

Laura Russell ‘81, director of special projects at the golf course, entered it into Audubon International’s BioBlitz for the first time in 2023 to bring more students out to the facility as well as to engage a broad spectrum of faculty expertise for the good of local ecosystems, she said.   

“Winning it just shows our commitment, the university's commitment to life, to the future,” Russell said. 

After a 2022 microburst storm caused extensive damage to a wooded area of the golf course, staff and volunteers realized they had an opportunity to carry out restorations in a way that would boost sustainability and create habitat for wildlife and native insects. With a grant from the UMD Office of Sustainability, workers and students doing other projects planted a variety of flowering plants, grasses, shrubs and trees between the 15th and 16th fairways, transforming destruction into a  meadow. Birdhouses and bee boxes were also installed to provide shelter for native birds, bees and other pollinators. 

UMD previously won top BioBlitz prizes in the categories for most participants as well as for best photo — documenting wildlife during the event helps bolster measures to protect and expand biodiversity at the golf course, Russell said. 

“Citizen science is useful for observing species or trends that would be difficult for researchers to do,” said Wu, a member of UMD’s Audubon student chapter. “Golf courses themselves are kind of notoriously often not very good for biodiversity. I think it's good that our golf course has several initiatives to improve its sustainability.” 

Despite its manicured appearance, the course’s 150 acres of rolling hills, woods and meadows provide a sanctuary tee-ming with plants, bugs and a variety of wildlife. 

For evaluating biodiversity, BioBlitz is a “a good model for any place where humans are modifying the landscape,” said Dani Moore, a biologist who serves as assistant director of College Park Scholars’ Environment, Technology and Economy program. Moore, who has incorporated the event into her teaching since she was introduced to it in 2024, praised the golf course’s “intentional decision” to prioritize and celebrate biodiversity.

Russell said she hopes professors and their students continue to participate in the BioBlitz. 

“There's a ton of life around us, and I think it's really important to be able to share,” she said. “We have foxes, we have birds. But the number of insects that make up the biosphere are just amazing.” 

Read about these in-tee-resting species found during the BioBlitz: