3-hole golf course at Carillon Lakes in Crest Hill get ‘Monarch’ approval

A private, three-hole golf course at a gated community for active adults 55 and up just might become a habitat to the Monarch butterfly, whose population is in decline.

Carillon Lakes in Crest Hill was recently accepted into the Monarchs in the Rough program, a feat that Carillon residents Trish Kullis and Bill Thomas consider astonishing, considering other members include the Bolingbrook Golf Club, Naperville Country Club and Cog Hill Golf and Country Club in Lemont.

“Those areas are all big courses,” Trish Kullis, one of the front yard volunteers for Carillon Lakes. “They have full-time staff to manage that kind of program and take care of things. We have volunteers.”

The Monarchs in the Rough program is a partnership between Audubon International and Environmental Defense Fund to connect the staff of golf courses as they “plan, install, and manage habitat projects for the monarch butterfly on their courses,” according to the Monarchs in the Rough website.

In addition to the signage, the Monarchs in the Rough program provide its members “regionally-appropriate milkweed and wildflower mixes to golf courses” so they can establish “an acre of high-quality monarch habitat,” due to a grant from the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation the website said.

Kullis said Carillon Lakes also installed a a puddling station for the butterflies in the far southeast corner of the golf course on May 24 – a place for butterflies to land and sip water with salt and other minerals, Kullis said.

“Normally it’s found on the side of roads and places like that,” Kullis said. “But with all the urban developments, that kind of habitat is being lost.”

Kullis said she hasn’t seen any butterflies yet, but she’s hoping that will change as the weather warms up, adding, “If you build it, they will come.”

That’s certainly been true of the red-winged blackbird and tree swallow, which residents have spotted on the property, she said.

“All kinds of animals are now showing up,” Kullis said. “Now it’s a clean, viable habitat for them.”

Thomas said one might even spot mink near the creek, which is how Mink Creek received its name.

The process of restoring natural habitats started five years ago when Carillon began story the unusable areas on the perimeter of the golf course near the creek, Kullis said. Carillon did a prescribed burn to eliminate invasive species and then began planting native grasses and flowers to attract pollinators, she said.

Residents also installed birdfeeders for bluebirds in 2016. The wood was recently replaced with PVC because it had “rotted out,” she said.

“No bluebirds yet,” Kullis said. “But we’re hopeful.”

In addition to all the volunteer labor goes into keeping the grounds beautiful, a professional company does manage the waterways and keeps Carillon residents abreast regarding invasive plants, Kullis said.

Bill Thomas, Carillon board member, said he encourages residents to walk along this “natural habitat” and see the area volunteers created to attract Monarch butterflies.

“Just do it when you’re not golfing,” Thomas added with a smile in his voice.