Palmetto Pine Golf Course owner denies blame for smelly algae

Thick, clumpy green algae is stinking up a neighborhood near Palmetto Pine Golf Course in Cape Coral. Blame has previously been cast on the golf course, but its owner says that is a thing of the past.

For years, Palmetto Pine Golf Course has been blamed for algae blooms in two freshwater canals, with the property’s ponds experiencing numerous outbreaks.

But owner Gerry Karlen says it’s a water flow issue.

“We don’t know what comes in from the stormwater, because there’s three locations [where] the homes dump their stormwater into my ponds,” Karlen said.

Karlen took over the course around two years ago. Since then, he’s made it his mission to improve the water quality on his property.

“I live on the tenth hole, and I didn’t want the course to close like Country Club of Cape Coral did,” Karlen said.

With the help of growing solutions, Karlen began sampling the water entering his ponds. The results contained high readings of excess nutrients known to cause blue-green algae, like a bloom WINK News reported on in March.

The City of Cape Coral had said it believed the bloom came from the direction of Karlen’s course, which he argues against.

“We haven’t put water in that canal for five months,” Karlen said. “I would guess that that was from houses being built, and sea walls going in.”

Councilman Tom Hayden doesn’t believe Karlen is to blame.

“You can make the case several years ago that it was under disrepair, it was being neglected… but not anymore,” Karlen said.

Hayden believes Karlen has only improved the relationship with the city, so they can tackle water quality concerns together.

Karlen says he has invested thousands of dollars into the property to help balance the ph levels of the water in his ponds.