Even after a week of intense usage, the practice tee remains strong! Ever since we switched our seeding and divot practices 4 years ago based on an experiment we did, the results speak for themselves. Based on USGA recommendations, their recommendation for a club our size (# of rounds played) would be a tee that is one acre in size...43,560 square feet. Our tee at HCC is approximately 20,000 square feet (less than half of their recommendation) and as you can see, we have no issues, whatsoever. This is one of my teams most proud accomplishments! Kudos to Chris Wells and Jessica Ledford for leading the effort of providing you with a wonderful practice facility! What most people don't realize is that to provide the level and conditioning you've come to expect at the practice facility, Chris starts work at about 4:30am. This gives him the time to mow it out before it opens at 7:30am. I'm grateful for his level of commitment...it is not an easy job!
Today, was my "every-other-week Highlands CC corridor Adopt A Highway cleanup." It's hard to believe that I can fill a trash bag every two weeks with just road trash. I've been doing this for a while and I enjoy seeing what these nasty people trow out of their vehicles 😅. Sometimes it's purely entertaining and other times frustrating. If you are every curious what kind of things I find, we should talk. My most prized piece of trash was a working Stihl chainsaw. Unfortunately for the fellow who lost it, he didn't realize it bounced out of the back of his truck! His loss, my gain. We are trying to keep a eye on the details of the corridor that not only define the club, but the entrance of town.
Some people think Bermudagrass won't grown in Highlands. Behind the 18th green, there is a very pretty patch of what is probably 419 Bermuda. How it got there is up for debate. In the 1980's a researcher from Tifton, GA brought a number of plugs to HCC and planted them around the course to learn more about their cold tolerance. While none of them survived, this particular patch did well because it lives on a south facing slope in full sun that stays warm enough in the winter to keep it alive. Check this out and see if you are able to locate it next time you play the course!