March 2026 News

Volunteers planting activity as part of the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program for Golf (ACSP)

Friends of Pusch Ridge Golf March 2026 News

Happy March everyone. Our mild winter has certainly been great for golf in Oro Valley. The Pusch Ridge Course hosted 2,931 rounds in January and 3,224 in February. March is also trending upwards and the current season projection is 20,800! (As you may re-call – prior to closing in 2020 the annual rounds were around 3,500!) We have experienced an amazing five years…

Friends of Pusch Ridge Golf continue to expand our focus and live our mantra – “Connecting the Community Through the Game of Golf.” Here’s a few updates.

• The Wednesday afternoon mixed casual league – The Prickly Pairs – started donating their weekly entry fee and started “winnings” to local children’s charities.

  • Courtney’s Courage – a nonprofit dedicated to serving pediatric cancer patients at Banner Childre’s Medical Center received a $500.00 donation. Please take a look at their website – an incredible organization: https://courtneyscourage.org

  • The First Tee – a youth development organization that enables kids to build strength of character that empowers them through a lifetime of new challenges received a $500.00 donation. https://firstteetucson.org

  • Youth On Their Own – Supporting the high school graduation and continued success of youth experiencing homelessness will receive a $500.00 before the end of the season. https://yoto.org

Our league members are incredibly generous – THANK YOU!

• We continue to partner with local restaurants – offering happy hour prices to Pusch Ridge Golfers. Thank you to The Overlook, Fork N Fire, and The Landing!

• Local hotels and apartments have embraced The “Friends” marketing program and continue to refer players to the course – The El Conquistador has a stay and play package!

• The leagues are thriving – 3 of the 4 weekly leagues are closed to new members and contribute an average of 150 rounds every week!

There is so much more to share – bottom line – people from all over the United States visit Oro Valley for a variety of reasons. (We’ve been tracking zip codes at the course and 30 states have been represented this season.) Golf is one of the many activities that they can enjoy along with hiking, horseback riding, cycling, shopping, dining and exploring the desert. Pusch Ridge, along with the two 18-hole courses at El Conquistador are part of the magic at the base of Catalina’s!

SAVE THE DATE! We will be hosting an end-of-season golf tourney in April! The event will include a morning shotgun and lunch. Stay tuned. And now – an exciting updated about the Audubon Certification initiative… Drum Roll Please…

Volunteerism at Its Best

If you drove down El Conquistador Way and sited neighbors and community members with shovels and pick axes on holes 5 and 6 of the Pusch Ridge Golf Course a couple Saturday’s ago, you were witnessing volunteerism at its best. 14 volunteers spent their Saturday morning planting 61 new pollinator perennials along the 5th hole pond as well as along the right side of the 6th fairway. These areas are designated for future butterfly gardens, to be visible to those driving or walking by as well as by the 20,000 golfers who play the course each season.

Why, you ask?? These volunteers were helping the course in its efforts to gain Audubon International certification as well as to sustain and enhance the course as a wildlife sanctuary for birds, butterflies and many other native animals. This effort, led by a Resource Advisory Team made up of members from the Friends of Pusch Ridge Golf (FOPRG), El Conquistador Golf and the Town’s Parks and Rec division, is one of several activities underway as part of the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program for Golf (ACSP) certification process. The process began in July 2025 when the Town purchased membership into the program with encouragement from the FOPRG and an endorsement from Darryl Janisse, General Manager of El Conquistador Golf. To reach full certification, the course must meet six key environmental components: Site Assessment/Environmental Planning; Wildlife and Habitat Management; Chemical Use Reduction and Safety; Water Conservation; Water Quality Management; Outreach and Education. A case study is also required, and the creation of a butterfly garden on the course was chosen for the study. This Saturday volunteer effort was part of that endeavor.

Plant identification on the Hole 1 cactus garden is another project undertaken by this volunteer group. And future plant identification at these new butterfly garden locations will also be part of an Outreach and Education effort. Dan Talsma of the FOPRG board presented a short update to the City Council in February and Jim Schilling, volunteer coordinator for the Audubon Resource Advisory Team presented at the El Conquistador Patio Homes Annual HOA meeting, both outreach efforts. Bulletin boards with dozens of photos of wildlife, plant life and birds photographed on the course are on display in the Pro Shop at Pusch Ridge. And The Explorer recently did a story on the Audubon efforts in early March, as a follow-up to their announcement of the project back in November.

Efforts are well underway in the Wildlife and Habitat Management category with an ongoing plant inventory, thanks to volunteer Herb Goerner, and a bird and wildlife inventory thanks to a birding group led by Dan Weisz of the Tucson Bird Alliance and neighbor and golfer volunteers. Another Tucson Bird Alliance professional, Olya Weekley, helped the volunteer group identify locations to add bird boxes for three different size bird species on the course and 12 Lucy’s Warbler bird boxes have already been built by volunteer Bob Barnes. These will soon be in place on trees around the course thanks to some help from OV Parks and Rec. Other signage is also being erected to call attention to the Audubon efforts at the course.

If you haven’t already raised your hand to participate in this multi-year effort, please do so by reaching out to puschaudubon@gmail.com. You can learn more about the Audubon work and make donations on the Friends of Pusch Ridge Golf website at friendsofpuschridgegolf.org. Many of the oncourse efforts are being led by Peter Leuzinger, a retired golf course superintendent from the Midwest and a volunteer on the Resource Advisory Team. Other advisory team members are DeeAnn Leuzinger, Schilling, Talsma, Carolyn Weinig, Janisse and Rosalyn Epting of OV Parks and Rec.

The golf course was closed to golfers on Saturday, February 28, for an international wedding staged on hole #1, allowing this volunteer team access to holes 5 and 6. The course is also going to be closed on March 21 and April 25 for scheduled weddings, booked through El Conquistador Golf. Watch for potential additional “workdays” on those dates..

Below: Peter Leuzinger (blue shirt) and Jim Schilling (red shirt) are planting on the 5th hole. Jim is the volunteer coordinator for the Audubon advisory team.. Peter Leuzinger is a retired golf course superintendent and was our leader for the planting.