Logo facelift

The Forest signature gumbo limbo tree logo, located in the cart staging area, got a facelift last week with a fresh coat of paint.  

Check out this unique "double headed" queen palm.  We have never seen a specimen like it!  Have a look for yourself next time you play #6 Bobcat, to the right of the cartpath.

Lake interconnect inspections

In preparation for the upcoming Bobcat project, we have identified a number of corrugated metal pipe (CMP) lake interconnects that have begun to fail.  The galvanized metal is 30+ years old in most cases, and has outlived its effective lifespan.  The most cost effective way to replace these pipes is to dig them up and lay new high density polyethylene (HDPE) pipe in their place.  However, some areas don't lend themselves to excavation and construction work, so the company Extreme Divers has a patented system for installing sleeves inside existing CMP pipe, eliminating the need to dig them up.  Extreme Divers has been on site at The Forest for the past few weeks inspecting the candidates for sleeves with their remote operated vehicle equipped with a video camera mounted.  Very interesting stuff!

#10 Bobcat irrigation work

Our main irrigation line developed a leak this week on the 10th fairway of the Bobcat course.  In this area, the main line is at its deepest point on the entire property, over 5 feet below the surface!  It is a challenge working this deep, especially on our property where we are so close to the water table. 

Walk mowing tees

We have recently begun to experiment with walk mowing our tees.  This is a more time consuming process than with the riding "triplex" mowers that have been used here at The Forest historically and requires one additional equipment operator each time we mow the tees.  Mowing square tee boxes with triplex mowers is very difficult and causes unnecessary wear along the front and back of the tees and causes the tee box to lose definition.  Many high end clubs use this practice and we are hoping that this upgrade will improve the quality of turf on the tee tops and surrounding areas.

Bobcat #12 cartpath

When the Bobcat course reopens on Tuesday September 16, 2014 from our final closure, you will notice a change in the routing of #12 cart path.  We excavated a new screening cart path that cuts between the 1 and 2 tee boxes and continues down the left side of the tee complex.  This was done in conjunction with architect Gordon Lewis's planning for a project in summer 2015, in an effort to move golfers and carts further away from #11 green.  Next summer during the project we hope to remove the path on the right side of the tees and move all tee boxes further to the left side of the hole, closer to the new path.

Beautification at Tennis Center

We have recently completed work to update the look at the entrance to the Tennis Center.  A clusia hedge was planted along the canal to shield it from view.  Clusia is a drought tolerant and fast growing variety that we will maintain at a height of 6 feet.

DO NOT ADJUST YOUR SCREEN

Today on the Bear course we applied humate to a handful of tees and approaches.  Humate is a plant health product that is intended to amend sandy soils and create an environment that will hold more water and nutrient in the root zone.  Humate is created by the degradation of dead organic matter and is harvested from ancient peat bogs.  Humate has been proven in University Studies to reduce the need for fertilizer because it helps fertilizer work more efficiently.  The black granular will work its way into the aerification holes over the coming days and disappear by the time we reopen the Bear on Saturday August 16, 2014