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.

Tropical Storm Debby ... and all things Olde Florida

All golf course superintendents know that managing turfgrass, a living, breathing organism subjected to numerous environmental stresses year round, can bring new challenges everyday.” This summer the rain has certainly been our biggest challenge at Olde Florida!

The center of Tropical Storm Debby was a 100 miles off our coastline yesterday morning. Her fast moving, but rainfall laden outer bands dumped 8.5” of rain on Olde Florida over the weekend. That brings the total rainfall in the last 65 days to 47.4”!  In addition to the 8.5” Debby deposited on Olde Florida, in June we received 24.25” and 14.65” in July. These are a few pictures taken at Olde Florida this morning. 

On a positive note, the evapotranspiration rates and the available hours of sunlight are both very high in the summer months and our turfgrass is very healthy!  Once the water recedes, recovery of the minimal damage will be extremely quick.

We have also been fortunate the rain this summer has primarily occurred on days we are not scheduled for a summer closure. While this is unfortunate for the members that play Olde Florida in the summer, it’s fortunate for the membership at large because we are on schedule with our necessary cultural practices and projects.

Since my last entry, It's Summer in Southwest Florida ... and that means it's "Cultural Practice Season!" , the greens have received another 5/8” core aeration and a second Drill and Fill process. 

The tees and approaches have been aerified and we have installed another 250’ of drainage on #11 approach and 175’ to the right of 8 green. 

We have also made our annual application of Chipco Choice for mole cricket control (video below) and our tree project on #17 is progressing.

Our hard work to provide the best possible playing conditions for the members and guests of Olde Florida will continue! Hopefully mother nature continues to reasonably cooperate!

Summer Update #1

It's summer in Southwest Florida and that means it's "cultural practice season" for area golf courses. Before detailing what we have, and will be doing at Olde Florida this summer, I think it's important to reflect on the past winter. 

The strong El Niño weather pattern we experienced last winter created the most challenging period to grow turfgrass I've experienced in my 35 years in South Florida. Essentially it was the “perfect storm”! In December, January and early February our golf play was at its peak, which creates physical stress and wear on turfgrass. This is also the time when our days are the shortest, the angle of the sun is at its lowest and we had the cloudiest period in over 83 years. If that were not enough, we experienced below average temperatures and above average rainfall. All of these things individually slow the growth of warm season turfgrass and cause decline. Undoubtedly, if my team had not completed essential cultural practices over the last 30 years, we would NOT have fared as well as we did. 

Click HERE for more information on last winters strong El Niño weather pattern and the challenges it created. 

The work we will perform this summer will be similar to most years. However, after last winters challenges we are going to be a little more aggressive in our cultural practices as well as complete a few special projects.

Every summer we schedule extended closures so my staff can perform the vital tasks of aerification, vertical mowing and topdressing. These are essential to insure the turfgrass remains as healthy as possible and the golf course is in the best possible condition for years to come. 

These tasks are performed in the summer when our play is the slowest, but equally important it’s the time of year when our warm season bermudagrasss is growing at it’s peak. As explained above, ironically, when our play is at its peak, the turfgrass is growing the least. 

In basic terms, for turfgrass to thrive it needs sunlight, water, nutrients and air. All are critical, but the one we try to influence the most in the summer is air (in the soil). A well drained rootzone is critical for turfgrass. Aerification, vertical mowing and topdressing all help to dilute the natural occurring organic matter beneath the surface. This helps to increasing air in the soil, water infiltration rate and ultimately turfgrass rooting.

The picture below was taken in mid-May. It is a 6” below ground slice of 16 green. The red arrow is pointing to a single root that is growing from the plant on the surface through a sand channel. A root growing to this depth, on a green being cut at 1/10th of an inch, demonstrates the value of aerification and sand in promoting a well drained, oxygenated soil.

Root in Sand Channel, 16 Green, May 2024

This summer we will complete a similar quantity and aggressiveness of our cultural practices on all areas of the golf course, as well as increase the aerification and topdressing on our 32-year old greens. 

In addition to traditional core aeration on the greens, we will again hire a contractor to perform two separate “Drill and Fill” processes. The Drill and Fill machines have a series of 1” bits that drill to a depth of 10” and then fill the channel with bagged, dried sand. A total of 126 tons or 252,000 pounds of sand was used on the first process completed May 28 - May 31. 

Drill and Fill, Practice Green, May 28, 2024 

Conventional Core Aeration, Practice Green, May 29, 2024  

We will also once again topdress the fairways with 1/4” of coarse sand. This was completed during our first closed week. A total of 879 tons or 1,758,000 pounds of sand was used. We will topdress our wetter fairways multiple times throughout the summer. The additional sand topdressing we performed last year on fairways 2 and 8 raised the surface over 1”. 

Topdressing 6 Fairway, May 28, 2024

                                      

As we do every summer, we will complete over 1,000 feet of subsurface drainage. We have already installed 200’ on #12 approach.   

Drainage Project on Hole 12, June 10, 2024

Drainage Project on Hole 12, June 10, 2024

Other projects include removing a few trees to the left (south side) of hole 17. Since opening the golf course 31 years ago the elevated canopy of the pine tress has significantly decreased sunlight on 17 green. We will also remove some undergrowth in this area which will increase surface airflow.

In summary, when you manage a living, breathing organism subjected to numerous environmental stresses year round, every day can bring new challenges. My staff and I work all 365 days each year to give the 112 acres of turfgrass we manage the best opportunity to thrive.