Romeoville, IL – Mistwood Golf Club continues to grow and innovate by hiring Angelica Carmen as its new sustainability specialist. In this newly created role, Carmen will implement multiple short- and long-term programs as Mistwood makes a major commitment to environmental social responsibility in golf course maintenance, food production and food service.
“There are many sustainable projects we can implement at Mistwood,” said Carmen. “I have met with each department at the facility, and we have a lot of ideas, big and small, that will have positive environmental effects,” said Carmen.
Carmen’s first project will be to create The Farm at Mistwood, a farm located on the golf course. Carmen is working with Executive Chef Dan Casey to develop a crop schedule that will yield vegetables to be featured at McWethy’s Tavern, the locally popular restaurant operated by the Mistwood team. The Farm will also serve as a venue for events. “We will be hosting chef’s dinners on The Farm itself, as well as honey tasting events using honey harvested from hives on property.”
Carmen brings a wealth of knowledge, passion, and experience to this new position, seamlessly fitting in with Mistwood’s future goals of sustainability and continuing a tradition started by the McWethy family. Before joining his father at Mistwood, Todd McWethy founded McWethy Farms, a hydroponic greenhouse operation which produced high-quality produce and supplied the local market in Michigan and the Chicago area.
“As a former farmer, being able to bring sustainability to the golf course brings me extreme joy,” said Todd McWethy. “Angelica gives our team a great opportunity to introduce biodynamic growing, on-site bee keeping, and building out vast sustainable projects in the future. Working closely with our chefs, we are also planning to create new customer experiences farmed from the organic farm Angelica is planning. She is a great addition to our Mistwood team.”
Carmen grew up in Lemont, IL and graduated from Loyola University Chicago with a communications and environmental sustainability degree. Five years of experience in the golf business showed her how many opportunities there are to make changes to benefit the environment and community.
The beehive project is a wonderful collaboration with Bee All About It, headquartered in Villa Park, bringing ten beehives to Mistwood. The hives are located in what was a previously wasted area, which now has the potential to produce more than 500 pounds of honey. Bee All About It fully manages all aspects of the beehives on the property, including honey collection. This partnership is beneficial to beekeepers looking for property to host their hives, facilities looking to add green programs and local honey production to their vision, and the ecological landscape by contributing to healthy biodiversity.
Looking forward to this spring, Carmen will begin work on a solar-powered greenhouse to start seedlings to then transition to The Farm at Mistwood. The 8,000 square foot farm will be situated in an unused area in the middle of the golf course and will be home to over 100 varieties of plants including edible flowers, herbs, and vegetables.
Carmen’s ideas and passion for her industry have been recognized with several local and national awards. She was the dual winner for the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago’s 2021 Sustainability Summit Awards in the categories of Biosolids Beneficial Reuse Award & Sustainable Landscaping Award for her major green infrastructure projects and for creating a washpad bioswale and establishing culinary farm using MWRD’s products. She was also Second Runner Up in the Innovative Conservation Award category offered through GCSAA’s [Golf Course Superintendents Association of America] Environmental Leaders in Golf awards.
About Mistwood Golf Club
Mistwood Golf Club, which opened in 1998, is one of the most-talked-about Chicago area golf destinations. It features 18 holes designed by award-winning architect Raymond Hearn, a top golf performance center and a spectacular clubhouse facility. Following an acclaimed multi-million-dollar course renovation by Hearn, which was recognized as the “Renovation of the Year” by GOLF Magazine in 2014, one of Golf Digest’s “Best New Course,” and one of Golf Range Magazine’s “Top 50 Public Ranges.”
The Performance Center at Mistwood Golf Club is a multiple recipient of Golf Digest’s Top 100 Club Fitters, and an Editor’s Choice award for Best Golf Schools and Academies. The high-end learning center offers custom fitting, club repair services, and lessons in the 5,000 square foot building at the base of the driving range. A 26,000 square foot clubhouse featuring the Scottish-inspired McWethy’s Tavern and Great Hall banquet facility, truly making Mistwood out to be one of the best golf courses in Illinois. Mistwood has become one of the most popular venues in Chicago. Visit Mistwood Golf Club, Performance Center.
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