While taking water samples from the lakes this month I noticed water bubbling up at the side of the lake on Bobcat 6.  Due to the drought, the lake was low enough that it had exposed what is normally underwater and not seen.  I took this video and then collected a sample from it just to see how it compared.  The findings were quite remarkable.

The water coming out of this spring is about 20% seawater.  These springs feed the lake that irrigates the Bobcat Course.  Fortunately, it is diluted with rainwater and runoff when it does rain.  But this is why it is so important that we get some fresh rainwater occasionally.

May 2021 was the driest May on record in Fort Myers.  The salinity levels tripled in that lake in one month.  What this means is that low mowed turf, aka the greens, will slow their growth and recovery rate.  The recent rains were so important to the success of being able to grow high quality turf on a consistent basis.

 

Morning Colors

 Captured this rainbow today from 6 Bobcat.  Unfortunately we did not get any rain from this storm.  We did get .9" rain yesterday and overnight.  We received .35" the day before for a total of 1.25" this week.  We could use much more!! 

Just Add Water.........After Grass!!

The front lawn was sodded today.  You can see the activities below.  The crew did a beautiful job in the hot sun!

Jeff and Angel laying it down with Abner and Fidel, GREEN SIDE UP!!!

Certified TifTuf

After all the detail work, JUST ADD WATER!!!

 

Clubhouse Front Lawn

 This week we are stripping and resodding the the island lawn at the front of the clubhouse.  It is being planted with the same grass that is going to be used on the Practice Facility when we renovate it in the coming months.  It's a bermudagrass called TifTuf.  TifTuf should provide a dense, lush lawn that is highly drought tolerant and requires 30% less water than other grasses.  

Here you can see the site prep.  The old grass is being removed and the soil will then be graded down smooth.

These are stems and stolens that we have to remove to prepare for the new sod.

May Bird Box Check

Brian "Birdman" Beckner was out today to check our bird boxes.  It is late in the season but we are still seeing some great activity.  One of which was a huge surprise for me, we have bluebirds!  Although I have not seen any on the courses, we have newly hatched young bluebirds in a box.  The new purple martin hotel on 10 Bobcat has some martin hatchlings in one of the rooms so its exciting to know we picked a good location for a new hotel.

Mom screech owl is sitting on an egg still.

These bluebirds are in a box on 13 Bear.  Very exciting to see!!

These are newly hatched purple martins in the "Martin Hotel" at the comfort station on 6 Bobcat.

 

New Aquatics on 14 Bear

These canna lillies have been a problem for a while now so we are permanently correcting the issue.  They are located in front of the back tee on Bobcat 2.  When they are fully grown it is difficult to see the golf hole AND hit a golf ball over them.  So instead of just trashing them we are relocating most of them to the lake on the right side of 14 Bear.  Before Hurricane Irma there were aquatics all along the lake on 14 Bear, but all were lost during the storm.  

You can see the problem here.

Francisco and Angel are starting to get after it.

Here you can see Mr. Galla directing the way at the head of the lake on 14 Bear.  These plants will grow fairly tall, obviously, so we are just putting in some "groupings" of plants along the bank.   

As time goes on we will eventually fill in the some of the other areas of the lake with some lower growing aquatic plants.  We already have our eyes on some that we can transplant so stay tuned!!

 

Bear Pump Station Repair

We finished our 2021 CAPEX Project for the Bear Course pump station.  The motor that you see here was refurbished while the pump underneath it was completely replaced due to the old one being worn out.  Effluent water that we use tends to wear out parts quicker due to its corrosiveness by nature.

The other motor and pump was renovated and replaced last year bringing us up to 100% new components now.