Cape Region lawn care companies along with committed DIY homeowners are currently busy with de-thatching.
Cut grass bits build up with repeated mowing during the spring and summer. To some extent, that’s a good thing, as thatch provides protection for the turf against the elements.
Nonetheless, too much thatch is far too much of a good thing, leading to bare spots and unhealthy grass. De-thatching removes much of the excess, while simultaneous reseeding helps regrow the dead areas.
Cape Region golf courses face the same challenge, but on a far different scale.
This past week, I played at The Rookery, where the maintenance crews were busy with a major de-thatching and reseeding effort.
The current focus is on the rough throughout the 18-hole course. The groundskeepers tow a machine that disks up the ground, slicing through the thatch and lifting it. The machine also spreads the grass seed.
Course superintendent Mike Pyne said his staff will be spreading out about 1,500 pounds of grass seed. He said this would cover about 25 acres total.
The predicted rains for the next couple weeks should help the seeds take hold before the winter comes.
Duca Del Cosma
I have written about Duca Del Cosma from past PGA Shows. The company works with Portuguese leather specialists to create beautiful golf shoes, along with related accessories such as gloves and hats, and all with a decidedly Italian fashion focus.
This year, Duca Del Cosma is taking its first tentative steps to expand into women’s golf apparel. I chatted with Jana Estanislau, the company’s operations manager, about their vision and goals.
“We all love golf, right? But it’s so much better when you’re doing it looking good, feeling good, feeling the confidence boost,” she said. “We’re always pushing the fashion forward aspect of it. We have matching gloves that match all of our shoes, we have caps, we have other accessories, and now we are getting into apparel. We’re just putting our feet into the water for now and seeing how it goes.”
The company’s fabric choices were deliberate and aimed at the look, feel and performance.
“We wanted to follow fashion and form, function, everything, so all our material has four-way stretch. Everything is antimicrobial. You can be out there all day and you’re not going to smell,” she said. “The fabric is all technical. This is also a dry-fit, so everything is going to wick away that sweat to give you the most function and the most fun while playing.”
The print designs are aimed at a single look for this first effort. “I would say it’s Palm Beachy, islandish, tropical vibes,” Estanislau said.
I noticed the Italian tri-color ribbon on the polo collars. “We always have these colors on our shoes, the Italian flag, so of course we’re going to keep that going. It’s on our gloves, it’s on our caps, we’re always going to have that nod to Italy. All of our designs are born in Italy,” she said.
We also looked at a few of the company’s new shoe models, including the Andiamo, a white/pink lower price point option that retails for $159. Among the men’s models, I liked the Davinci, a waterproof spike-less leather option in light blue ($249).
The company does a nice bit of direct-to-consumer sales at its website and is also expanding its presence in green grass shops. I expect the new apparel offerings will boost that part of their business model.
Garb
At the 2024 PGA Show, I interviewed two companies that focused on boys’ golf apparel. At the 2023 PGA Show, I interviewed a new company focused on girls’ apparel.
For this year’s show, I visited the folks at Garb, a Denver, Colo. company that offers a wide range of youth apparel for boys and girls.
Joe Silva founded the company in 1996, just as the Tiger Woods phenomenon began to take over the golf world. Garb apparel can now be found at over 1,700 country clubs worldwide, according to Allison Herman, the vice president of sales, design and merchandising.
“We have 25 sales reps across the country,” she said, with a mix of golf course and specialty store clients. In addition, the company is the clothing source for over 600 colleges and universities, and provides child-sized logoed apparel for many professional tournament merchandise tents.
While Garb’s club business includes logo embroidery services, non-logo versions are also available at its website, garbinc.com.
The 2025 St. Tropez line is a good introduction to the range of Garb items. It includes polos, skorts, shorts, and pants, in prices that stayed south of $50, with an appealing mix of solids, stripes, and prints. Size options run from infant through toddler and youth, depending on the item.
Local club competition results
The Mulligan’s Pointe Ladies played a two best balls of four game Sept. 23.
Tammy Bresnahan, Pat Burk, Penni Hope and Janet McCarthy won first place. Peggy Clausen, Donna Dolce, Kathy Hudak and Wendy Michaelson finished second.
