Jupiter's Ritz Florida Golf Course Maintenance Crew Takes Pride In Pristine Greens
There is nothing like the early morning on a Florida golf course. The last droplets of dew tip the grass, giving it a luminescence that sparkles in the early sun. Putted golf balls create rivelet tracks along the green to the hole and the light breeze at sunrise belies the steamy heat that will mark the course as the day continues.
Savvy golfers — and most golfers in North County fit this category — know that the lush fairways, the neatly clipped bunker edges and the fine-tuned putting surfaces don't happen by some elfin magic.
They are the result of very precise golf course maintenance practices, and when this golf course is the Jack Nicklaus-designed 18 holes at the Ritz Carlton Golf Club & Spa, Jupiter the standards elevate to professional tournament level.
"We are an Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Certified golf course," said Lukus Harvey, the Ritz Carlton golf course superintendent, "which means we go above and beyond with pesticide management, awareness and sensitivity to wildlife. Also, right in the middle of the Florida golf course is an 8-acre bald eagle preserve that is fenced off and no one but our certified biologist can go in there.
"It is the centerpiece of the property and if our members don't see the eagles for a few days, they are asking us about them."
These same members demand the finest when it comes to the golf course's condition, so the Ritz Carlton spends more than $1.6 million a year to maintain this course.
Much of the maintenance involves the greens, which are among the most pristine and smooth in the area. And this doesn't happen by accident. Harvey and his crew of 28 continually use various maintenance practices to guarantee that the greens are outstanding.
"I would put my greens up against the (PGA) Tour any day of the week," said Harvey. "We have tour players that are members here and members that want this type of condition."
Until about five years ago, South Florida had the reputation for not having good greens, he said, but now, because of new grasses obtained through gene splicing the grasses — Champion Ultradwarf on the greens and Tifsport on the fairways — allow the course to provide "the finest greens and fairways in South Florida," Harvey said.
Along with these high quality grasses comes a labor-intensive maintenance program that continues throughout the year, but in the summer, several practices are accelerated.
Top dressing, adding a light covering of sand on the greens 40 times during the year, helps the greens to maintain a smooth surface, the "pool table," effect, said Harvey.
"These grasses grow so much and are so aggressive that the more they grow, the more work we have," he said. When we do aerification (pulling out small cylindrical plugs from the greens and filling them with United States Golf Association sand), it helps the greens get more oxygen exchange.
"The previous sand that is down there, three or four inches deep, can build up an organic area and insects and funguses like these organics. So when you take out the plugs, then it will accept water."
The golf course closes for a day for the aerification and for 10 days there are "undesirable" putting conditions, he said, but the members are "very educated," and understand that proper maintenance keeps the golf course at its best.
Vericutting, or making thin cuts along the surface of the green, used to be a minor maintenance practice done about 10 to 15 times a year, but Harvey said it is done aggressively about 15 times a year, and then lightly 20 times a year.
"Picture a mower that is a bunch of circular saw blades," he said. "It removes dead material called thatch that grows under the surface of the green. Because this grass grows so quickly, one piece of grass grows on top of each other, and if you don't vericut, the part under the top surface will die out — you'll get greens that are spongy."
The vericut grooves are filled with sand, so that it is still a true putting service, he adds.
Harvey, who has been at the course for a little more than a year, cut his maintenance teeth at some of the best-known golf courses in the country — Doral Golf Resort and Spa in Miami, Johns Island Club in Vero Beach, Calusa Pines in Naples, and the venerable Augusta National in Georgia, home of The Masters.
Because of this experience he is accustomed to the exceptionally high standards demanded at Ritz Carlton.
"There are a lot of great Florida golf courses in the area, and the Ritz Carlton is all about service," he said. "We sell out memberships based on tournament conditions, and because of this, we can't have an off day.
"We communicate with our members, so they know what we are doing and they are willing to accept it," realizing that the maintenance is the key to an outstanding golf course.
Savvy golfers — and most golfers in North County fit this category — know that the lush fairways, the neatly clipped bunker edges and the fine-tuned putting surfaces don't happen by some elfin magic.
They are the result of very precise golf course maintenance practices, and when this golf course is the Jack Nicklaus-designed 18 holes at the Ritz Carlton Golf Club & Spa, Jupiter the standards elevate to professional tournament level.
"We are an Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Certified golf course," said Lukus Harvey, the Ritz Carlton golf course superintendent, "which means we go above and beyond with pesticide management, awareness and sensitivity to wildlife. Also, right in the middle of the Florida golf course is an 8-acre bald eagle preserve that is fenced off and no one but our certified biologist can go in there.
"It is the centerpiece of the property and if our members don't see the eagles for a few days, they are asking us about them."
These same members demand the finest when it comes to the golf course's condition, so the Ritz Carlton spends more than $1.6 million a year to maintain this course.
Much of the maintenance involves the greens, which are among the most pristine and smooth in the area. And this doesn't happen by accident. Harvey and his crew of 28 continually use various maintenance practices to guarantee that the greens are outstanding.
"I would put my greens up against the (PGA) Tour any day of the week," said Harvey. "We have tour players that are members here and members that want this type of condition."
Until about five years ago, South Florida had the reputation for not having good greens, he said, but now, because of new grasses obtained through gene splicing the grasses — Champion Ultradwarf on the greens and Tifsport on the fairways — allow the course to provide "the finest greens and fairways in South Florida," Harvey said.
Along with these high quality grasses comes a labor-intensive maintenance program that continues throughout the year, but in the summer, several practices are accelerated.
Top dressing, adding a light covering of sand on the greens 40 times during the year, helps the greens to maintain a smooth surface, the "pool table," effect, said Harvey.
"These grasses grow so much and are so aggressive that the more they grow, the more work we have," he said. When we do aerification (pulling out small cylindrical plugs from the greens and filling them with United States Golf Association sand), it helps the greens get more oxygen exchange.
"The previous sand that is down there, three or four inches deep, can build up an organic area and insects and funguses like these organics. So when you take out the plugs, then it will accept water."
The golf course closes for a day for the aerification and for 10 days there are "undesirable" putting conditions, he said, but the members are "very educated," and understand that proper maintenance keeps the golf course at its best.
Vericutting, or making thin cuts along the surface of the green, used to be a minor maintenance practice done about 10 to 15 times a year, but Harvey said it is done aggressively about 15 times a year, and then lightly 20 times a year.
"Picture a mower that is a bunch of circular saw blades," he said. "It removes dead material called thatch that grows under the surface of the green. Because this grass grows so quickly, one piece of grass grows on top of each other, and if you don't vericut, the part under the top surface will die out — you'll get greens that are spongy."
The vericut grooves are filled with sand, so that it is still a true putting service, he adds.
Harvey, who has been at the course for a little more than a year, cut his maintenance teeth at some of the best-known golf courses in the country — Doral Golf Resort and Spa in Miami, Johns Island Club in Vero Beach, Calusa Pines in Naples, and the venerable Augusta National in Georgia, home of The Masters.
Because of this experience he is accustomed to the exceptionally high standards demanded at Ritz Carlton.
"There are a lot of great Florida golf courses in the area, and the Ritz Carlton is all about service," he said. "We sell out memberships based on tournament conditions, and because of this, we can't have an off day.
"We communicate with our members, so they know what we are doing and they are willing to accept it," realizing that the maintenance is the key to an outstanding golf course.
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