A picture is worth a thousand words. In the case of Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College in Tifton, Georgia, home of one of the South's most highly regarded turf programs, its Forest Lakes Golf Club is a picture that - for obvious reasons - must be preserved like an art museum would dote over a masterpiece.
For fifth-year superintendent and ABAC alumnus Austin Lawton, some generous industry supporters have helped him paint the golf course - and the university - in a positive light."We're not Augusta, but we're way better than we used to be," Lawton said.
Nestled in the historic hotbed of Bermudagrass research, nine-hole Forest Lakes was donated to the university 15 years ago by Dr. Larry Moorman, a Tifton-area ophthalmologist. Since then, keeping the course in top shape has been a financial challenge.
Recently, Forest Lakes received several donations that have helped Lawton make improvements to the course that he otherwise could not.
Hunter Industries stepped up with about $10,000 in new sprinkler heads and satellite system. Pennington Seed contributed $2,200 in perennial ryegrass seed and the University of Georgia Tifton campus chipped in $3,500 worth of TifTuf sprigs for an ongoing practice range-improvement project.
Moorman, the property's original owner, paid the $3,000 bill for clearing trees necessary for other course-improvement projects. Other contributions include free use of a Bobcat the past two years from Brown & Cox, a well-drilling company in nearby Oxford, Georgia.
"For all the time I've used that Bobcat, it would have probably cost me another $10,000 to rent one," Lawton said.
Hunter has been contributing irrigation equipment since east coast sales manager Kevin Johnson and Lawton met at the 2013 Golf Industry Show in San Diego. Johnson had heard about ABAC's plight and thought helping the course was a good way to showcase his company's products. Since 2014, the company has donated $30,000-$35,000 in sprinkler heads, controllers and tools to service them.
John Layton was Forest Lakes' second superintendent, serving from 2008 until 2012. He went on to earn a master's degree from ABAC where he now is an assistant professor of environmental horticulture. Lawton has been the superintendent ever since. It was under Layton that the course's slow-but-steady revival began.
When Lawton took over as superintendent in 2012 only about 60 percent of the property's 170 irrigation heads were functioning. Thanks to Hunter, he has been able to fix or replace all the non-working parts and has 100 percent coverage. Another 50-60 heads are scheduled to arrive in a few weeks, and Lawton's goal is to eventually replace all of Forest Lakes' irrigation components with Hunter parts as the donations roll in.
"When the school took over the golf course, it wasn't in very good shape," Lawton said. "(Layton) first turned around the golf course and got it into good shape. From 2012 to the present, I've been able to get it into what I would consider excellent condition. I've just be building on what John started."
Presenting the course in the best light possible is important not only for Forest Lakes' operations, but for ABAC's turf program, as well, said Lawton, who employs seven ABAC turf students on his crew. After all, if a college can't manage its own golf course, what would that say about the quality of its turf program?
"It helps with the recruitment of students for the turf program," Lawton said. "It also helps recruiting for the golf team, because they practice here."
The savings allow Lawton to undertake other improvement projects, like an expansion of the practice range, including a new teeing area and practice bunker that his ABAC students are building, including grading the floor and installing new drainage.
"We are now one of the best golf courses in the area," Lawton said, "and we're going to keep making it better. It's an ongoing process."