GOLF DIGEST 2006
Perfect solution, green and view By Alan Tays, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer Wednesday, June 23, 2004 DELRAY BEACH -- The green is perfectly manicured, the view of the nearby shimmering water unmatched. Seminole? Pebble Beach? Harbour Town? No, Harbour's Edge. You won't find it on any list of golf courses, but every day, members come to test their skill on its 18 holes. Harbour's Edge is a life-care retirement community, and its "golf course" is a 7,500--square-foot putting green. The view of the Intracoastal Waterway is enhanced by the fact that the green is perched on a rooftop. Talk about your elevated greens. The synthetic surface was installed last December after Harbour's Edge management took one of its regular surveys asking residents what additional amenities they might like. "We had quite a few requests for a putting green or somewhere where they could golf," said Kim Dominy, Harbour's Edge's executive director. With little green space available on Harbour's Edge's 22 acres off Linton Boulevard, the putting surface was built on a rooftop deck. Golfers have a view of the Intracoastal and residents in upper floors have a view of the green. "Even for the people who don't putt, they enjoy sitting up on their balconies and watching," Dominy said. Residents took to the new green immediately. About 70 showed up for its opening, at which Paul Carpenter, head pro at the Country Club of Coral Springs, gave putting lessons. "There's a Monday morning club competition, where there's probably about 25 now who regularly use it," Dominy said. "When the weather cools down, there will be more. We have competitions and they practice up there. Some have ongoing games with their neighbors." The secret's in the surface The surface, called SofTrak, is made by United Turf Industries of Wichita, Kan. Under the synthetic turf is a layer of compacted road rock, covered with a layer of concrete screening, "which looks like sand, but it's not sand," said Jeff Graham, owner of SofTrak of South Florida. "We can get that really, really hard, and perfectly smooth." Smoothness is important, Graham said, because "whatever is in that sub-base is what you're going to end up with on your putting surface. So if you've got a pocket or a bump or whatever, there's nothing you can do (about it) once you put the turf down." The base is smooth, but not necessarily flat. Undulations can be built in so players can practice on breaking putts as well as straight ones. After the synthetic turf has been laid down, it is top-dressed with six to seven pounds per square foot of a sand-like substance that anchors it and gives it a softness that enables it to hold shots hit from a distance. (Graham says SofTrak greens will hold shots hit from 150 yards away.) Graham says the shape of the top-dressing particles is the key to keeping the turf as soft as the real thing. "We use a true round quartz silica particle to in-fill," Graham said. "That's what establishes that realistic ability to hold a shot." Envision the silica particles as marbles, Graham said. "If you think of a bucket full of marbles, and you push down on it, what happens? You get some give to it, because all those marbles are turning. They're not compacting." Graham, 59, has owned his SofTrak franchise for three years. He was simply looking to put in a green at his Lighthouse Point home, and spent seven months investigating what was available. When he learned about SofTrak, "I said, 'Wow, this is not only something good for my side yard, this is a cool business.' " Graham knew about operating a business. He was a co-founder of Jeron Technology, a Pompano Beach-based company that developed the type of pagers used by restaurants to let customers know when their tables are ready. With SofTrak, Graham estimates he has installed more than 100 greens in South Florida. Costs range from about $12 per square foot, which would put the bill for a small, basic 300-square-foot green at $3,600. Extras, which include fringes, rough and sand traps, can help hike the cost to about $20 per square foot. . At 7,500 square feet, Harbour's Edge's green is the largest installed by Graham and perhaps the most popular. Not long after the green was installed, residents formed a golf committee. "It is a retirement community, so we're always looking for a way to keep (residents) more active and involved," Dominy said. "A large portion of them were golfers. Many of them still go out and golf. But this allows them to practice and to play right here, and it also allows them to get some fresh air. "But the view is something they're not going to get anywhere else. They can putt and watch the boats go by at the same time."
SofTrak Putting Greens, (800) 540-4899, www.unitedturf.com For the golfer who has everything else, SofTrak is a high-performance, low-maintenance brand of synthetic putting greens offered exclusively by United Turf Industries. Individuals and businesses nationwide have purchased SofTrak greens for any number of uses. Recent installations include at active adult communities, Bed & Breakfasts, by companies on their campuses as a morale-boosting employee amenity, by high school and college golf teams, and for numerous area homeowners who want to extend their golf season, enhance the resale value of their home, and provide a convenient, high-quality practice facility for the avid golfers in the family, including budding junior golfers hoping to earn college golf scholarships. Owners of SofTrak greens at their home include TOUR stars Chris DiMarco,Fred Couples, Rich Beem, Steve Flesch, Bruce Lietzke, Donna Andrews and T.C. Chen. Forbes F.Y.I. magazine recently stated that SofTrak “comes astonishingly close in texture to real grass.” There are 65 SofTrak dealers nationwide who are certified to design and construct SofTrak greens for residences and businesses. Costs between $5,000 and $75,000, depending on green size and shape. In addition to SofTrak,, United Turf Industries now offers VersaCourt. This means golfers and homeowners can have a virtual backyard entertainment center given VersaCourt’s high-performance athletic surface and flooring system. Now the family can practice putting and chipping then hop over to their VersaCourt for a game of basketball or soccer.	New Golf Products and Destinations October 19, 2004. For Golfers Who Have Everything and Been Everywhere Products    SofTrak Putting Greens, (877) MY-GREEN (694-7336), www.unitedturf.com A high-performance, low-maintenance synthetic putting green brand offered exclusively by Wichita, Kansas-based United Turf Industries, SofTrak greens hold shots from as far out as 125 yards and are virtually maintenance free. Owners of SofTrak greens include PGA (Fred Couples, Steve Flesch)Rich Beem, Chris DiMarco, Champions (Bruce Lietzke) and LPGA (Donna Andrews) Tour players, among others. Forbes FYI recently stated that SofTrak 'comes astonishingly close in texture to real grass.' There are more than 55 SofTrak dealers nationwide who are certified to design and construct SofTrak greens for residences and businesses. Costs between $5,000 and $75,000, depending on green size and shape. New this year is VersaCourt, from UTI. Now golfers and homeowners can have a virtual backyard entertainment center given VersaCourt’s high-performance athletic surface and flooring system. Now the family can practice putting and chipping, hop over to the VersaCourt for a game of basketball or soccer, ! then finish things off with a dip in the swimming pool.