Rolling the Greens at the Amazon Golf Course

Rolling and Firming the Greens At the Amazon Golf Course

Rolling and firming the 8th green at the Amazon Golf Course on July 22nd, 2009.

We do every thing the hard way at the Amazon Golf Course. This roller that we use to pack the greens to make them firm, was custom made for us by a welder in Iquitos. There is a trap door in the side to fill with sand to make it heavier. To move the roller to another green the grounds crew empties the sand in a sand trap, moves to a different green, then fills the roller with sand from the closest sand trap to the green that is being rolled. It’s the hard way, but it works!

Rolling and firming green # 6 at the Amazon Golf Course on July 22, 2009

Our grounds crew have bought into the 2,000 tree landscaping project. They get up at 4:30am and are scouring the neighborhood road sides and forest edges at first light looking for palm, shade, and fruit trees to transplant to the golf course. Since my last report two days ago, they scavenged and planted 95 more trees to complete a double row on the west side of the golf course. Now there is a row of mixed palms just inside the fence line, and a row of fruit and shade trees inside the row of palms to make a lane from the first green all the way to the back boundary fence. It will be fantastic when they grow enough to provide shade walking down the lane between the rows of trees to the 2nd green.

This is one of the first trees we planted. Two months ago it was a tiny stick. Trees grow fast in the tropical rainforest.

We are getting great results from our 2,000 tree landscaping project. The tree in the photo above was bit off by some animal the first night we planted it, but it branched out and has grown at an amazing rate ever since. This is obviously a long term project, but we will have a lot to show for it sooner than you think. There is a big short term impact also. You won’t believe it until you see it with your own eyes. Come on out to the Amazon Golf Course and see what we are working on. It’s pretty special.

This red ginger was one of our first transplants over two months ago.

This red ginger is a good example. Two months after transplanting it is showing plenty of pretty blossom bling!

This pink ginger was another of our first transplants. Trees and blooming bushes grow fast in the tropical rainforest.

This pink ginger is another example of how much impact a plant growing in our special compost mixture in the tropical rainforest can have in a short period of time. Bling!

This red heliconia is on the back side of the Amazon Golf Course.

The back side of the Amazon Golf Course was ignored for too long. It looked like my cow pasture back in Indiana when we started working on it. It was like two different golf courses. Some of the best greens are on the back side, but because of the distance from the clubhouse, it was nearly abandoned for a couple of years. We are taking good care of those greens, planting trees and bushes, carrying our compost and tools to work, and incorporating the back half of the course into our landscaping plan.

This heliconia is only one example of what we are doing on the back half of the course. The biggest and most dramatic change will be across the stream on the back half of the golf course. Most people will never see it, but every golfer that plays a round will appreciate the work we are doing. Obviously the improvements will also add value to your investment.

More heliconias.

These heliconias were some of the few blooming plants on the 24 acres when we started our landscaping project. In the last two months we have sidedressed them three times with our compost mixture and they have really taken off.

The exotic yellow heliconias at the Amazon Golf Course.

What do you think? What are you doing? Come on out and see what we are working on. Lend a hand. Get your hands dirty. This is a huge project. Be a proud part of it. We need your help.