FarmLinks

[Eracer]

Great review with great pics. We have so many development courses here in Florida, with rows of houses and condos lining every fairway. It's really nice to see pictures of a course out in the woods. Was that a house at the 17th green? I didn't see any signs of civilization in any of the other pics.

 

[Bravo]

Great review with great pics. We have so many development courses here in Florida, with rows of houses and condos lining every fairway. It's really nice to see pictures of a course out in the woods. Was that a house at the 17th green? I didn't see any signs of civilization in any of the other pics.

This property is located out in the middle of nowhere. It is 11 miles off the closest 4-lane highway- US 280. It is family owned and they have been in the fertilizer business for many years (from what I can learn).

They are pretty shrewd. They want to sell as much fertilizer to golf course superintendents as they can. So they take quite a bit of their acreage and hire a top design firm from Ohio to design a course for them. Hire a course construction firm from Nebraska to build it.

Then, they call their course a "research and demonstration" golf course. They were able to get golf course equipment companies such as Toro (mowers) and Club Car (carts) to DONATE much of the equipment they have in use on their facility.

http://www.toro.com/golf/advantage/cm_ta_oct_2001.pdf

Once a year, they have a big event where they invite golf course superintendents from across North America to come and see the facility and play golf free. Then in turn the supers buy their fertilizer.

https://www.turfnet.com/commercial/pti/

So there are no houses around the course because (as the name says) it is a farm. I have every reason to believe that the house you saw on 17 belongs to the Pursells...

 

[EnglishGolfer]

I nearly got a nosebleed looking all that way down onto the 5th green!

 

[SiberianDVM]

Wow! The last time I saw rough that high was when I looked in my back yard!

That settles it: I am definitely buying a Radar Golf system.

 

[ManchesterGolfer]

Top pics and story. Makes me want to up sticks and move over there for the weather and courses. My last two comps have been washed out by the rain and the forecast isn't looking good for the rest of this week either.

 

[Bravo]

Top pics and story. Makes me want to up sticks and move over there for the weather and courses. My last two comps have been washed out by the rain and the forecast isn't looking good for the rest of this week either.

Come on over and bring your Earl Grey with you...:usflag:

 

[Rockford35]

Another short par 4. Those are fairway bunkers on the left with deep hay behind...stay right with about a 225 yard tee shot for a safe play...

What the hell does this mean?

Nice pics, B.

R35

 

[Bravo]

What the hell does this mean?
R35

Only God knows...so often when I try to "hit safe" I don't stay committed to the shot and block it or snap it left...sure enough, I blocked this one into the hay on the right...

 

[Pa Jayhawk]

I think your are correct, your area does look very similar to ours. Great looking course. So, how were the grasses and stuff. Different from anything normal?

 

[Bravo]

I think your are correct, your area does look very similar to ours. Great looking course. So, how were the grasses and stuff. Different from anything normal?

Frankly yes there were many areas that had different turf and sometimes the result wasn't very good.

Down here, fairways are almost always bermudagrass. It thrives in heat, tolerates drought pretty well and grows extremely fast in the summer - so divots recover pretty quickly if you will fill them with the sand/seed mix. The downside of bermudagrass is that it goes dormant in the winter...turns brown-blonde. So between December and March, it doesnt grow at all.

On this course (you will see it in one photo) there were several fairways with a sort of bluegrass on them. The grass was certainly green enough but the fairways were really tight and the ball would not sit up well. You had to really hit down on the ball to get a good strike on it...I honestly dont know enough about turfgrass to know the exact type but it did not thrive as well as the bermudagrass does in this climate - although it may well stay green in the winter.

Since courses are open year round here, these fairways may well be nice and green in January which would be a big advantage for them over the courses that have bermudagrass. Our group talked about going there in the winter to play to see how the course looks in January or February.

All of the greens had a bentgrass on them that was just wonderful and they putted as well as anything I have tried...the next time we go, I will spend some more time talking with the owner and staff about the different varieties of turf there...

 

[golfman2760]

great pics

do you think bigfoot lives in that neck of the woods?