First tee-to-green SeaDwarf Seashore Paspalum course open

The nation's first golf course to be grassed completely with SeaDwarf Seashore Paspalum opened on last March at Hammock Bay Golf & Country Club near Naples, FL. The warm-season turfgrass was installed from tee-to-green, in the roughs and in all common areas around the golf course community's residential homes and roadways.

The developer, WCI Communities, and golf course designers, Houston-based Jacobsen/Hardy Golf Course Design, selected SeaDwarf for use as the only grass on the 18-hole, par-72, 7,080-yard golf course at Hammock Bay.

The golf course is situated on a peninsula on McIlvane Bay, a brackish body of water that leads to the Gulf of Mexico. WCI's Scott Hamm, CGCS, said the grass used at Hammock Bay would not only have to stand up to the surrounding area's salt conditions, but also to the highly-salty effluent water used as irrigation on the course.

The grass was also selected for use from tee-to-green, Harem said, because of its versatility of mowing heights. The dwarf Seashore Paspalum can be mowed from 1/8-inch to about 4-inches, which allows for fast greens, roughs of a moderate height, and smooth fairways.

At Hammock Bay's Grand Opening tournament in early March, Jeff Price, assistant superintendent, said the new greens were rolling very fast. "The greens were double cut and rolled for the tournament this morning and just after that they were a solid 10.5 on the Stimpmeter. We irrigated this morning so they were a little wet at 10.5," Price said. "As the day wore on, when the sun came out, and the wind kicked up a little bit and dried up the greens, by this afternoon I'd say they were at least at 11."

PGA Tour Player Peter Jacobsen and Jim Hardy, principals of Jacobsen/Hardy Golf Course Design, are so enthusiastic about their experience at Hammock Bay that they've already specified the grass to be used on another design project, Galveston Country Club in Galveston, TX.

"I'm a Bentgrass guy growing up in the state of Oregon. I've never really been a big fan of Bermudagrass. So for me, the experience that I've had with the Paspalum is overwhelming," Jacobsen said, at the Hammock Bay Grand Opening ribbon cutting.

"I think these are the finest fairways that I've ever played golf on. That includes Augusta National and any major championship I've played," Jacobsen said. "I think these are the finest fairways you're going to see, certainly in Florida. I think this is the best turf condition you're going to find."

Environmental Turf provided this article. For more information: www.environmentalturf.com or 772-460-5575.

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