---
title: Going Green on the Greens
date: 2026-01-15T11:00:00-05:00
author: University of Maryland
canonical_url: "https://terp.umd.edu/going-green-on-the-greens"
section: Articles
---
# Going Green on the Greens

*January 15, 2026* — by [Annie Krakower](/authors/annie-krakower)


- *Illustration by Kolin Behrens*
- *Photos courtesy of Laura Russell*

> UMD’s Golf Course Doubles as Sustainable Living Classroom


**TERPS TREKKING ACROSS** the [University of Maryland Golf Course](https://www.golf.umd.edu/) might not just be looking for eagles and birdies beyond the fairways, but in the treetops.

The course, which hosts upward of 50,000 rounds of golf per year, also acts as a living classroom. It welcomes classes ranging from entomology to turf management, with Terps studying critters, sampling water and exploring biodiversity.

“That’s what we’re continuing to focus on: having environmental, recreational and educational benefits on the golf course,” says Laura Russell, who handles the course’s special projects. “It’s a multitasker.”

After a powerful storm surged through College Park in July 2022, uprooting 284 of the course’s trees, employees turned the destruction into an opportunity for growth. They used a university [Sustainability Fund grant](https://sustainability.umd.edu/sustainability-grants/sustainability-fund-grant) to add nearly 4,000 seedlings and other plants in the most damaged area, between the 15th and 16th fairways, transforming it into a pollinator meadow.

Through birds, blooms and bees, it adds to the many ways the course is sustainably supporting the UMD community. Tee off for a tour.


*Bluebird sits atop birdhouse*


*bee box*


*tree sapling*


*three people sit on bench made from tree*


*water on golf course*




**Issue:** [Winter 2026](https://terp.umd.edu/editions/winter-2026)


**Types:** [Campus Life](https://terp.umd.edu/category/campus-life)