It has been an extremely busy week on the golf course at Estero Country Club. As holes on the front nine are being finished and prepped for sod and sprigs, others are being shaped. Good news is grass is growing on the back 9. The project is certainly moving along quickly, and it is amazing to see how everything is coming together.

  • The greens were sprigged this past Saturday on holes 2, 3, 6, 7, 8 and the putting green. The sprigs were planted at a rate of 40 bushels/1000 ft2 – in comparison to the rate of planting on the back 9 at 25 bushels/1000 ft2. It is common practice when re-grassing a golf course in South Florida to plant at a higher rate to speed up grown in. This allows the front to catch up with the back. The remaining 6 greens will be sprigged on or around July 20.
  • The Clubhouse Irrigation project is virtually complete. We have begun installing trees in front of the Clubhouse along Vintage Trace Circle. These beautiful Magnolia trees were shipped all the way from North Florida to Estero. We are expecting the install of Sabal and Canary Island Date Palms this week. We will also begin installing plant material around the clubhouse. This process will take us 2-3 weeks. Once plants are in the ground we will lay the new sod.
  • Rough, fairway and tee sprigging on holes 2, 3, 6, 7 and 8 will begin today, July 11. This will take 2-3 days to complete. On or about July 25, we will sprig the final holes, 1, 4, 5, 9 and the Driving Range.
  • Concrete cart path repairs continue on the front 9 as does the brick paver installation around the practice area. Both projects should be complete in about a week.
  • The holes on the back 9 are growing in nicely. The greens have reached about 80% grass coverage. We continue to mow, top-dress, roll and fertilize the greens weekly. The fairways, tees and rough are a few weeks behind the greens but are also starting to green up. These areas are also fertilized weekly.
  • Those of you that were around Estero Country Club yesterday can attest to the intensity of the storm that rolled through in the afternoon. This brought heavy winds, hail and almost 3 inches of rain in an hour. We experienced some “washouts” on the course. Our staff along with Clarke Construction will be working diligently over the next couple of days to make the necessary repairs. This type of intense storm activity is common for this time of year in Southwest Florida and we are lucky this was our first “washout” experience. It is extremely important that we get the sprigs down and growing in as quickly as possible to prevent any further issues.