Media Contact: Stacie Zinn
NAPLES, Florida (Friday, April 22, 2005): An inaugural event was held recently at the world’s first golf course to be grassed exclusively with SeaDwarf™ Seashore Paspalum. Hammock Bay Golf & Country Club in Naples, Florida, hosted the very first Lexus Naples Intercollegiate Invitational golf tournament on March 14th and 15th. Hammock Bay Golf & Country Club was designed by Peter Jacobsen and Jim Hardy of Jacobsen Hardy Golf Course Design. Jacobsen, a well known PGA and Champions Tour player, hosted the event that brought together 60 players and coaches from 12 college teams. The 54-hole, 2-day event was won by Liam Kendregan from St. Mary’s College with a score of eight under par. Opened in March of 2004, Hammock Bay was developed by WCI Communities. It was grassed entirely with SeaDwarf™ Seashore Paspalum on greens, tees, fairways and roughs. The ability to use just one grass on a golf course is somewhat unique in the golf world but SeaDwarf™, as the only true dwarf cultivar of Seashore Paspalum, can support mower heights as low as 1/10th of an inch and up to about 4-inches. The 18-hole course borders McIlvane Bay, a brackish body of water that flows out to the Ten Thousand Islands and Florida Everglades. This is significant as SeaDwarf™ is a highly salt tolerant turfgrass. It can tolerate brackish water from the surrounding bay and is irrigated with effluent water. SeaDwarf™ is also very environmentally friendly. The grass takes up to 75-percent less nitrogen for fertilization and up to half the amount of water for irrigation than bermudgrass. Plus, ordinary table salt can be used as an herbicide. But the true test of any grass is its playability. At Hammock Bay, the SeaDwarf™ greens have been documented to roll as fast as an 11 on the stimp meter. Plus, the vertical nature of the way SeaDwarf™ grows allows the golf ball to sit up in the fairway almost as it if were teed up. Players and tournament officials alike mentioned the fine playing conditions of the course. Jeremy Alcorn of Baylor University, who finished second in the tournament, was quoted as saying Hammock Bay had “some of the best surfaces I’ve ever hit from.” Tournament Director Todd Saunders said “the outstanding quality of the grass not only helps the course shine but it also helped the players shine. It showed how good these kids are and what they can look forward to in future tournaments, not only on the Nationwide Tour but the PGA tour. The play was enhanced by the grass and by the condition of the course.” The Lexus Naples Intercollegiate Invitational is slated to return again to Hammock Bay in 2006.
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