Annual Report to the Olde Florida Golf Club Membership

Annual Report to the Membership 

April 4, 2025

Prepared by:

Darren J. Davis, CGCS

Golf Course Superintendent

darrenjdavis@oldefloridagolfclub.com 

(239) 860-3920 - Cell

(239) 353-4441 - Office

www.DarrenJDavisGCS.com 

Weather 

We have been blessed with phenomenal weather in the 2025 winter golf season allowing my team to provide the membership with terrific golf course conditioning. This is a very welcome change from the previous year. 

Without a doubt 2024 was the most challenging year I have faced in my nearly 40 years in the industry. Last winter we experienced an extremely strong El Niño weather pattern. Due to the El Niño pattern, we experienced the cloudiest two months (December 2023 and January 2024) in over 100 years. We were additionally challenged with above average rainfall and below average temperatures in a time when our growth is the slowest and our golf play the highest.  

When sunlight and temperatures returned to normal levels in mid-February our hard work was rewarded and we finished the 2024 winter golf season extremely strong!  

The weather pattern reversed as we entered summer and we experienced a strong La Niña weather pattern. This resulted in impacts from three named storms, Debby, Helene and Milton.  In the four month period of June - September we received 73.65” of rain. The total rainfall received at Olde Florida in 2024 was 101.65”, which is close to double the historical average.

Of the three named storms Milton created the greatest challenge. Milton did not provide the beneficial flushing rain that reduces impacts from salt. After Milton moved through our area on October 9th, we went 21 days without rain and then only received .15” on October 30th. Then we only received .10” for the entire month of November.    

TifTuf

The 2021 renovation and re-grassing to TifTuf was extremely successful. When the turfgrass is receiving the climatical conditions it needs to grow, it has provided an exceptional playing surface! The goal of the 2021 renovation was 99% eradication of the existing grass, and we achieved that. However, as reported in previous annual reports, the level of purity will drop slowly each year. I would estimate that we remain approximately 94% - 95% pure TifTuf.   

Summer 

This summer we will continue similar work performed in previous years. This includes the crucial cultural practices of aerification, vertical mowing and topdressing. 

In 2023 we expanded our topdressing of tees and greens to include fairways. All 25 acres of fairways receive 1/4” of sand annually, with wetter fairways receiving additional 1/4” topdressing applications. It is a significant investment, but it results in firmer, better draining fairways.  This practice will continue this summer.

Since 2019 we have performed a minimum of two aggressive soil modification processes annually on our 33-year old greens. This summer we will once again utilize the Drill and Fill process on all greens.  The Drill and Fill machine creates a 1” by 10” channel that is completely filled with sand to provide effective channels through the root zone. 

This summer we’ll perform a reclamation project of the lake bank adjacent to 2 green with the SOX Erosion System. In 2021 we installed the product adjacent to greens  1 and 5.  The SOX product is a geotextile based system with a patented anchoring design that is used to stabilize shorelines and prevent future erosion. For more on the system you can read my blog entry on the process. 

https://darrenjdavisgcs.blogspot.com/2021/08/2021-renovation-update-6-lake-banks.html

Drainage, tree trimming and underbrush maintenance are also routine summer projects.

All of the cultural practices we perform in the summer months, when the turfgrass is most actively growing, greatly assist in winter conditioning. They are crucial to surviving challenging weather patterns. For a report on what we accomplished during the summer of 2024 visit my June 2024 blog entry: 

https://darrenjdaviscgcs.substack.com/p/its-summer-in-southwest-florida

Golf Cart Usage

I would like to thank the majority of the membership who are driving golf carts responsibly and according to club policy. As a reminder, we ask that all members and guests keep golf carts off turfgrass around tees (exiting the path after the last green and white post) and keep carts outside the green and white posts around putting greens. Your adherence to this policy will benefit your fellow member and provide the highest quality turfgrass for everyone to enjoy.  

Vanderbilt Beach Road Extension Update 

The Vanderbilt Beach Road Extension project is a 7-mile extension of the existing six lane road.  The extension begins at Collier Boulevard and it will end at 16th St. 

The project began in the fall of 2022 and at that time the county estimated the project will take approximately three years to complete. Due to the same weather challenges we faced at Olde Florida in 2024, progress was slowed. The estimated completion date has shifted from fall 2025 to spring 2026. 

The contractor, Sacyr is working hard to finish earlier, but the summer weather pattern is unpredictable. Currently, approximately 60% of the roadway is paved and Sacyr is focussed on installing all underground components of the project before the upcoming rainy season to minimize weather impacts.

While there have been some challenges for us throughout the project, due to the responsiveness of the project manager for the county and the contractor Sacyr, all issues have been addressed and handled promptly.  

It’s anticipated in June of 2025 we will be re-routed to the new east bound lane section of road just east of Collier Boulevard. This will allow for the construction of the west bound lanes in this section. The timing is dependent on work being performed by FPL. 

Our connection to the new canal has temporarily been made enabling is to utilize the new canal as water source as well as discharge if needed. The final connection will take place in a few weeks. 

The 8’ chain link fence that will border our entire property line and subsequent landscape planting can not occur until the end of the project. We are fortunate that we had the foresight to plant hundreds of cabbage palms in the narrow strip of our property to the south the berm on number 9. 

Furthermore, through negotiations with the county we are fortunate to have obtained the ability to plant and subsequently maintain a landscape barrier on county property at road elevation. This is significantly (approximately 10’) above the elevation of #9 fairway. In time this will provide a sound and visual barrier.   

For more information on the Vanderbilt Beach Road Extension project you can click here: 

https://www.colliercountyfl.gov/government/transportation-management-services/transportation-engineering-division/vanderbilt-beach-road-extension

Additional Information/Year-Round Updates

Please feel free to reach out at anytime if I can assist with anything, and if you are not already doing so, please follow the Olde Florida Facebook page and subscribe to my blog for more frequent updates on the golf course. Links to these can be found on my website:  www.DarrenJDavisGCS.com

Year In Review: 2024 In Photographs

A new year brings excitement for the future, but it's also a good time to reflect on the past. A “year in review: in photographs” is somthing I started in 2022. I find that self-reflection provides the opportunity to appreciate the things you experienced and discovered, as well as determine the things that made you happy. I enjoy photography so one way I reflect on the previous year is to sort through photos I took over the last 12 months. These are a few of my favorite, or most meanigful photos.

1 Green, February 23. Olde Florida Golf Club

In 2024, I was once again blessed to have a great team in place. Due to adverse weather, without a doubt 2024 was the most challanging year I’ve faced as a turfgrass manager. A solid agronomic plan, combined with a dedicated team enabled us to “weather the storm.”

Hole 1, March 8. Olde Florida Golf Club 

Often when posting a sunrise picture on social media I use the hashtag #FavoriteTimeofDay. Sunrise truly is my favorite time of day, as well as one of my favorite moments to photograph or video. The sunrise is one of Nature’s finest moments, and each sunrise provides us with a new beginning and a new ending.  

Annually I pick my favorite photo of the year and it becomes my Christmas card. This sunrise picture on #1 was the one I chose for 2024. 

Hole 16, March 10. Olde Florida Golf Club 

A close second to my favorite time of day are the hours just after the sun rises when my staff and I are busy preparing the golf course for the day. For a golf course superintendent, there is something magical about an essentially weed free, divot free course, with “laser lines” from our mowers and perfectly manacured bunkers. 

As often as possible in the winter I walk the golf course in advance of play and soak in the surroundings. 

"Ginger", March 30. Olde Florida Golf Club 

In 2013, Olde Florida Golf Club began a program to enhance nesting opportunities for Purple Martins, Screech Owls and Eastern Bluebirds. Working with an ornithologist, we have installed and monitor seven Screech Owl Boxes, three Purple Martin nesting structures and two Eastern Bluebird boxes. Each year we fledge hundreds of Purple Martins, but the Screech Owl mothers and hatchlings are a favorite of mine. This is “Ginger.” Ginger has utilzed “her” Screech Owl box behind 5 green for many years.

  

Hole 12, April 27. Olde Florida Golf Club  

All turfgrass needs sunlight, water, nutrients and oxygen to thrive, and when our TifTuf bermudagrass receives each, in the proper amount it’s hard to beat! When the strong El Niño pattern of 2024 finally subsided, we finsished the golf season strong! 

6 Fairway, May 28. Olde Florida Golf Club

For the past few years, fairway topdressing has become an annual, summer agronomic practice. The process enables us to provide smoother, firmer and healthier fairways. In my opinion, it’s a “game changer.” 

Hole 16, June 14. Olde Florida Golf Club

This summer was the wettest on record at Olde Florida Golf Club. We received 73.65” of rain from June through September and over 101” for the year. 

3 Tee Complex, June 24. Olde Florida Golf Club 

Even with the excessive rainfall, the agronomy team was able to complete all necessary agronomic practices, including deep-tine and regular aeration, vertical mowing and topdressing. 

6 Green, June 25. Olde Florida Golf Club 

Even with the excessive rainfall, the agronomy team was able to complete all necessary agronomic practices, including deep-tine and regular aeration, vertical mowing and topdressing. 

Clubhouse, October 8. Olde Florida Golf Club 

Olde Florida Golf Club was impacted by three hurricanes this year. The path and strength of the last one, Hurricane Milton provided enough concern that the staff boarded up the clubhouse. 

Hole 1/Clubhouse, October 18. Olde Florida Golf Club 

The supermoon on October 17 was the year’s largest and brightest full moon of 2024. The moon, which appeared 8% larger and 15% brighter than normal was also known as the Hunter’s Moon. 

6 Green, October 22. Olde Florida Golf Club

6 green receiving a light syringe to move a plant protectant into the root zone. 

9 Green, November 22. Olde Florida Golf Club 

9 Green receiving a light syringe at sunrise. 

1 Tee/Practice Green/Clubhouse, December 30. Olde Florida Golf Club 

The team at Olde Florida Golf Club are looking forward to a terrific 2025 winter golf season! 

The winter solstice occurred this morning at 4:19  a.m. EST. At that exact time, the sun shone above the Tropic of Capricorn, its most southerly point. This is a key date for those of us living in the northern hemisphere because it marks the shortest day of the year. 

Hole 1, Olde Florida Golf Club

The word solstice comes from the Latin word solstitium, which literally translates to "the standing still of the sun". Solstitium is made up of the Latin words sōl, meaning "sun," and sistere, meaning "to stand still”. It refers to the point where the sun’s apparent movement north or south pauses before reversing direction.”

After the last twelve months, for this turfgrass manager, a reverse in direction of not only the sun, but the weather in general would be welcomed! 

On this date a year ago we were deep into a very strong El Niño weather pattern and I was asking, actually pleading with Santa for some sunshine for Christmas. "All I want for Christmas... is Sunshine! I guess I was on Santa’s naughty list, because it didn’t arrive. In fact, December (2023) and January of this year were the two cloudiest months in Naples in over 100 years. 

After finishing the 2024 winter golf season strong, the El Niño weather pattern flipped to a La Niña pattern and the adverse weather continued.  This summer was the wettest on record. We received 73.65” of rain from June through September at Olde Florida. To add perspective, we average 56” of rain annually, so we significantly exceeded our annual average in just four months. 

Year to date we’ve received 99.40” of rain at Olde Florida, with 0” in the month of April and only 1” since Hurricane Milton passed by our coastline 72 days ago on October 9. In addition to Milton, Hurricanes Helene and Debby also caused significant impacts to Southwest Florida this summer. 

Without a doubt the last 12 months have been the most challenging in my nearly 40 years in the golf course management industry. With that said, my team and I are excited to enter 2025 with excellent turfgrass coverage and a golf course that is playing terrific!

Sunrise, Olde Florida Golf Club  

   

Tif3D ... Dark, Dense and Durable

In early 2024, after nearly a decade of research trials, University of Georgia Turfgrass Breeder, Brian Schwartz has released a cutting edge bermudagrass variety named Tif3D. I am confident that Tif3D will become the standard on warm season putting greens. That is a bold statement, but it’s one that I strongly believe!

Olde Florida was one of 23 test sites for Tif3D. On September 18, 2019, when it was planted on our research green, the grass had the experimental name 12-TG-101. Before I provide rationale on why feel Tif3D will become the standard for warm season putting greens, let me provide a brief history of turfgrass varietal testing at Olde Florida.

Darren J. Davis, Olde Florida Golf Club and Dr. Brian Schwartz, University of Georgia 

A couple years after we opened Olde Florida in 1993, there was a buzz in the golf course industry about the new “ultradwarf” varieties that were being evaluated in research trials in the Southeast. When we originally grassed Olde Florida, TifDwarf, which was released in 1965, was the standard for warm season putting greens.

In 1995, I was asked by Dr. Wayne Hanna, then a turfgrass breeder with the United States Department of Agriculture, if I would include his latest experimental turfgrass, TW-72 in trials we were establishing. TW-72 had already been in testing for several years, and it was considered an “ultradwarf.” Aware of the renowned history of the Tifton, Georgia, breeding program I quickly agreed. After a decade of testing, on December 21, 1999, what was TW-72 received a patent under the name TifEagle.

After successfully managing TW-72/TifEagle for over five years in our trials, in the summer of 2000, Olde Florida underwent a renovation that included replacing the TifDwarf on our greens with the recent release of TifEagle. It’s the opinion of most in the industry that TiFEagle quickly became and remains the standard for warm season putting greens.

Now, back to what I believe will replace TifEagle as the new standard for warm season putting greens—Tif3D. As I said, in September of 2019, we planted what was formerly 12-TG-101 (now Tif3D) on half of a 1,000 square foot green. Adjacent to the 12-TG-101, we planted TifEagle. The 12-TG-101 and TifEagle sprigs were harvested on the day prior to planting at Pike Creek Turf in Adel, Georgia, and they were planted at equal rates on our research green. Both varieties are managed identically, and after grow-in, have been maintained the same as the TifEagle greens on our golf course.

What we have seen over the past five years is that Tif3D has numerous attributes that enable it to excel over TifEagle. The tag line being used by the University of Georgia and the growers of Tif3D is “Dark, Dense and Durable.” Without a doubt that is accurate! We have seen the attributes used in the tag line at Olde Florida. I will expand on the three adjectives.

NOTE: When some of the photos below were taken the name Tif3D had not been chosen. Therefore, Tif3D in some photos is labeled “101”, a shortened version of its experimental name.

Dark

Color doesn’t affect playability, but Tif3D has a dark green color. Several things including fertility have an impact on color, but since both sides of the test green are managed identically, that is not a factor. At times, the color difference is marginal, but at others it has been 

dramatic.

Tif3D (left) is consistently darker than TifEagle (right)

Tif3D (left) is consistently darker than TifEagle (right)

Dense

Tif3D has a narrower leaf blade compared to TifEagle. One of the advantages of a narrower leaf blade is increased green speed. Dr. Schwartz and his team visited the test site numerous times a year since 2019 and, among other things, they measured green speed. Consistently, the speed of the Tif3D was greater than that of the TifEagle.

Tif3D has a finer texture than TifEagle

Tif3D has a finer texture than TifEagle

Often a negative of a fine-textured turfgrass is it can get “puffy” and present increased thatch accumulation. That is not the case with Tif3D. In fact, we have seen the opposite. On numerous occasions, we have witnessed the mower “grabbing” on the TifEagle side of the green and not on the Tif3D side.

TifEagle (right) can become "puffier" than Tif3D (left) causing mower "grabbing/scalping"

Durable

Tif3D is certainly “durable”! Durability is defined as, “The ability to withstand wear, pressure or damage.” Tif3D is all that and more. Another aspect of its “durability” is the ability to recover quickly.

Although durable, like all turfgrass, Tif3D will undergo stress in extreme conditions, but we have seen in the side-by-side trial that Tif3D has better stress tolerance than TifEagle. Secondly, we have seen that when Tif3D does go under stress, its recoverability is much better than TifEagle’s.

Tif3D (left) has a higher stress tolerance than TifEagle (right) 

16 days after moisture stress (above) the Tif3D (left) has recovered quicker than the TifEagle (right)

We have also seen quicker recovery on Tif3D as compared to TifEagle from multiple stressors including ball marks, aerification and vertical mowing.

Tif3D (right) recovers from aerification quicker than TifEagle (left) 

Tif3D has also shown durability when under pressure from Fairy Ring.

Tif3D (left) has a higher tolerance/recovery from Fairy Ring than TifEagle (right) 

Other Applications of Tif3D / Tif3D “Grown on Plastic”

In addition to the 2019 Tif3D/TifEagle research green, we have another 1,000 square foot research green in our test area that was constructed at the same time with identical specifications.

Surrounding the two greens is an additional 6,000 square feet, which has been used to grow various turfgrass varieties through the years. After lengthy discussions with Dr. Schwartz in 2022 and 2023, we made the decision to eradicate what was on the second green, as well as the 6,000 square feet surrounding the two greens. During the summer of 2023, we embarked on a thorough eradication that eliminated all the turfgrass in the test area, with the exception of the Tif3D/TifEagle green planted in 2019.

On September 21, 2023, the green, as well as the entire area surrounding the 2019 research green, was planted with Tif3D “Grown on Plastic” (GOP). Tif3D GOP provides a new option for golf courses compared to traditional sprigging. Tif3D GOP only requires weeks of grow-in time to be a puttable surface instead of the standard months. 

Since the product is grown on plastic, it’s not damaged when harvested, transported and installed. The roots remain intact and are not cut during harvest, reducing stress and transport shock, which results in a higher quality product and faster establishment.

The Tif3D GOP research green has been exceptional. We are managing it identically to the 2019 Tif3D/TifEagle green.

The surrounding 6,000 square feet of Tif3D is being maintained at two heights of cut. Both greens have a 48” collar that is currently being mowed at .200. The Tif3D collars are treated the same as the TifGrand collars we manage on the golf course.

The remainder of the 6,000 square feet is being managed in the manner of an approach or “chipping area.” The current height of cut is .400.

The Future

In 2019, in the planning stages of our 2021 golf course renovation, I was asked by the Olde Florida Board of Directors, “If we decide to renovate our greens, is there a turfgrass variety better than our existing TifEagle?”

Although our TifEagle at the time was 19-years old, my answer to the question was, “No.”  This was one factor in our decision to not renovate our greens.  If I were to be asked the same question today, my answer would be unequivocally, “Yes, there is, and that grass is Tif3D.”

For information published by the University of Georgia on Tif3D click HERE.