New Butterfly Garden

The Golf Course Operations staff has re-located one of the two butterfly gardens at Mediterra. The new garden is located just south of the entrance to Padova next to the sidewalk.

The path will now be much more accessible to both the golfers coming from number 15 green South and to those using the sidewalk.

There are over 40 shrubs, vines and trees planted in this area which all serve as host plants for butterflies. A bench will soon be placed in this area as well to allow a place of relaxing and observing the butterflies.

For the first time, we will be offering classes about creating a garden of your own and learning about our native butterflies. These classes will take place in the new garden and will be hosted by two local butterfly gardening experts who assisted us in creating the new garden.

I hope you enjoy the area and will be able to attend one of the upcoming classes.



Scott Whorrall CGCS
Director of Golf course Operations

Repairing Ball Marks

(click picture for larger image)

As your playing golf this time of year at Mediterra, you'll notice that the greens are covered in ball marks. Bermudagrass growth slows considerably during the winter months, and that results in slower recovery of ball marks.

With that in mind, it makes it more important to not only repair ball marks, but properly repair ball marks. The image above displays the steps that should be followed when repairing ball marks. Research has shown that improperly repaired ball marks can actually take up to a week longer to recover than un-repaired ball marks. A properly repaired ball mark can recover up to one week faster than an un-repaired ball mark, and up to two weeks faster that an improperly repaired ball mark.

Please take the time to properly repair your ball mark as you play your round at Mediterra. It is often a good habit to not only repair your own, but look for a couple others that haven't been repaired as well. This will help improve the quality of the putting greens.

Frost on the Golf Course

This past Thursday saw temperatures in the low 30's, and as a result we saw our first frost of the season. The frost resulted in play being delayed until 10 a.m. When frost is present, the turfgrass is actually very fragile. Turfgrass leaves are 90 percent water, and therefore they freeze during low temperatures. Any traffic, whether it be machine or footprints, can result in turfgrass plants breaking and cause cell walls to rupture. Widespread damage could be very costly to both the playability and aesthetics of the golf course. When frost is present, it is always the best to delay all maintenance and golfing activities until the frost has had time to melt.

Bermudagrass is very sensitive to frost, and will enter a dormancy period following continuous days of low temperatures. This can be seen on the golf courses right now with the rough areas turning a tan color. Dormancy is a process Bermudagrass goes through in order to survive low temperatures. When temperatures return to normal, Bermudagrass will continue normal growth, and the tan color will disappear.

Frost normally isn't a phenomenon we have to deal with more than a few times per season, but it is important to understand the effect it can have on the turfgrass at our club. If there are any other questions regarding frost, do not hesitate to contact the Golf Course Operations facility (254-3096)

Wildflowers on the Golf Course

As many of you may have noticed, selected areas on the North Course have been planted with seasonal wildflowers. Behind number five green, and eleven green have been planted again this year and are beginning to show some great color.

This blend is purchased from a supplier in Colorado and is called a Caribbean blend. These seeds are specifically selected for our region. Wildflowers are unique in that they require supplemental water in the beginning but do not require irrigation when they mature. With our normal dry spring season in South Florida, these flowers really thrive for us.

Wildflowers, when mature, produce seeds; drop the seeds when the flower dies which then, produces another plant. This cycle continues for about sixteen weeks until the hot temperatures and humidity of the summer will eventually halt any new germination. At that time our Landscape Gardeners will go in to these areas and remove the dead material, pine straw the area until next fall, then replant in December.

In staying consistent with the native, natural theme of the North Course, wildflowers were the obvious choice to add some natural color. Some of the flowers you will see in bloom in the upcoming weeks are Orange Sulfur Cosmos, white and purple dwarf Cosmos, Yellow Black-eyed Susan’s and white Alyssum to name a few. There are over nineteen different species in the blend that will bloom through cycles depending on the soil temperature.

If you would be interested in learning more about Wildflowers do not hesitate to call me.

Scott J. Whorrall, CGCS

Welcome

Welcome to the Mediterra Golf Maintenance blog, the source for all there is to know about our maintenance practices here at The Club at Mediterra. Please check back periodically for updates on various topics related to golf course maintenance. Thank you!

Maintenance Practices to be Displayed on ForeTees

You will notice when signing up for a tee time on ForeTees that any maintenance practices that are scheduled for that day will be displayed on the top of the page starting Monday January 19th. We want all members to be aware of any practices that may temporarily affect a portion of the golf course. All maintenance practices will only be conducted on one golf course at a time, thus providing 18 holes that have not been affected.