Several months ago, I had reported that we had planted some wildflowers throughout the golf course in hard-to-maintain areas to add some color and habitat. These areas are now in full bloom and looking quite striking. Below are some recent photos that I took to illustrate this.
Is it that time of year already again? Our fall annual flowers have been installed throughout the club. We still have a few small areas to do, but the bulk is in. We have kept the choices pretty much the same for the course and grounds with a few subtle changes. The next couple of weeks are critical to establishing the plants. We tend to chose plants that are drought tolerant and can survive frost without covering. Geraniums, petunias and begonias make up the bulk of the plant material. We will be installing impatiens in the rocks along #14 tee. Normally, the Ladies’ Beautification Committee donates their time to planting these at the 14th tee. Unfortunately, due to a mistake I made on the date, the maintenance staff will be planting these this time within the next few days. My apologies Ladies!! I would like to thank the LBC for donating the funds for these flowers.
Over the last week or so, we have been prepping areas around the golf course for wildflowers. All of the areas that will be done should in no way affect the play of the golf course. There are several bebefits of doing this. This is one step in the certification process for the Audubon Sanctuary Program that we have registered for. You can read more about this project by clicking the tab at the top of the page. The wildflowers will provide not only beauty, but habitat for butterflies, birds and other wildlife. A few of these spots will eventually host bird boxes as well. A second benefit of doing this is to eliminate hard to maintain turf areas. Most of the areas are along the steep-sloped sides of tees where it is difficult to maintain with our equipment. This in turn, will save labor. We plan to start the seeding process within the next couple of days. Below are examples of areas that have been prepped for the seed.
Every fall, the golf course gets a blanket of pine-straw in all of the bedded areas on the course. This always provides a nice clean look and color to these areas. Below are a couple of shots at #2.
We continue to try and improve the aesthetics around the golf course. Most of the areas we have done recently have been done in a natural way using various grasses. The first example provides more than just aesthetics though. Below is at the #6 tee area between the Men’s and Ladies’ tee. this area is commonly used as a shortcut by golf carts and is typically roped off all season to prevent people from driving through it. We have eliminated this shortcut by plant Muhlygrass in this area. It is just now staring to bloom with it’s purple inflorescence.
We have also eliminated an area where it was very difficult to grow healthy turf. Below are photos between the 16th green and the 17th tee. This has always been a difficult area due to the shade that the oaks here provide.
This summer has been a very busy one for the maintenance staff. We still have several items yet to do over the course of the next month. Among them are:
Below are other examples of landscaping that has been done on and around the course.
Bag-Drop circle done with peach hibicus and gold-mound.
#18 tee area.
Nasty hillside by fairway trap on #2.
#1 Tee
#5 Tee
We decided to change the look on a couple holes recently by converting what used to pinestraw to “coquina”. I have the coquina in parentheses because is is the same material that we use on the cart paths. The material has been firmed up and gives these areas a new look.
Below is a photo of the right rough on #3 where we planted all of the palm trees after Wilma.
This area is to the left of the fifth green.
The area between the cartpath and the road at #7 has always been an eyesore so we replaced the old, nasty bermudagrass with St. Augustine sod and added a few plant groupings.
Improvement to our ball-washer/tee-sign areas has been needed for some time now. We removed the rock that previously surrounded these areas and have planted some nice landscaping plants in place of the rock. The photos below are very typical of the work that was done. (Note that the actual ball-washers are missing.) We have sent them off to be refurbished. The ball-washers are quite expensive so it is worth the investment to have them repainted and repaired.
#5 tee has also received a facelift thanks to the Ladies’ Beautification Committee. This area will be seen on your right as you enter the tee area after crossing the road.
