The Last of Naples

The two other courses I visited in Naples were Collier Reserve and Corkscrew golf club. Collier Reserve was a residential golf course. What I found interesting about this course was the way it was laid out. There were buffer zones between golf course and houses. Soon after I noticed this I realized the whole community used very little turf grass in the front and back yards. It was all native plantings. This was a nice change from a typical golf course community where the fairways are lined with houses and all you see is acres of turf. Driving around Collier Reserve was fun because between holes the cart paths were built through protected areas of swamp.




The other course Corkscrew golf club has achieved Audubon silver certification. This course just opened last year and was a Jack Nickalus designed course. I spent a few hours talking to the superintendent Chris Hughes on the course and the Audubon program. Some of the key features Audubon did was install these drainage boxes that collect all of the greens runoff and filters the water before it’s released through the fairway and into constructed wetlands. This was also the first course I visited where the superintendent used a lot of organic fertilizers in the fairways.