Course Update 6/18

North Greens:  Landscapes has completed four days of work. The greens on 9,10,1, and 3 have been completely cored out. The greens on 2,7, and 8 should be cored out by tomorrow morning. We are working together with Landscapes 7 days a week in order to meet out construction deadline of July 1. I have listed the basic process for the greens renovation below:

1. Shoot the greens - Use a laser and grid pattern to ensure that contours remain the same
2. Strip the sod - The sod is stripped first so that we can re-use the old greens mix for other projects
3. Remove old greens mix - and stockpile in various locations
4. Smooth and prep green for new mix
5. Install new greens mix - sand is watered in and packed to prevent settling
6. Prepare greens for planting.

9 Green cored out

Why are we renovating greens? While the greens were overseeded it was difficult to see how much Champion bermuda remained on the greens. Now that all of the overseed has died, it is easy to see that renovating the greens was the right choice. The renovation will allow us to fix this problem and several others. In the photo below - the green grass is Champion and the brown is dead overseed 



6/14 Construction Photos

Course Update 6/14

Congratulations to the winners of the Sunburst Tournament -  Kevin Sempner "Big Daddy" and Sulung Suputra "The China Man"! Thank you all for a great event. I hope that your guests enjoyed the facility and we look forward to next year's tournament on the new greens.

North Greens- Construction Begins! Landscapes Unlimited will begin strippinig the old grass from the North Greens this morning. They will start around 9 and 10 and proceed out from there. The old grass will be removed with a sod cutter and hauled off to various locations around the course. During this process the greens will be lasered and grade stakes installed so that the countours remain the same. Once several greens have been stripped they will begin excavating the greens. We have currently recieved about 25% of the new greens mix, and are expecting more today. Please keep checking the blog to see pictures of the process.

North Course- All course accessories will be removed today. This includes flags, cups, tee markers, etc. We will also be working on removing bunker liners, edging sprinkler heads, and working on other tasks that are often difficult to complete during play. In addition, we will be improving the landscaping around #1 tee. This will take place over the next several weeks and should be a major improvement to the course.

South Course- Greens will be sprayed today. All other normal maintenance practices will take place. We are anticipating high volumes of play on the South while the North is shut down. All efforts will be made to continually improve the South during this time. There is no doubt that the South will experience some congestion and wear and tear with all the traffic. We have a plan in place using several key agronomic practices to limit the damage to a minimum. Please be patient, follow all traffic signs, and remain on the cart paths as much as possible. PLEASE avoid driving in worn or thin areas.

Thank you for the help and we look forward to great rest of the summer on both courses!

Course Update 6/8

Welcome all members and guest playing in the annual Sunburst Tournament. We look forward to a great event. I hope everyone enjoys both courses, all aspects of the club, and all the special events. Good Luck!

In addition to the Sunburst, we are preparing for the start of our renovation next week. The new greens mix has already started arriving and is being stockpiled on the right side of 17.

#8 Well: Finally we have water! The number 8 well is up and running as of yesterday afternoon. This well is producing 280 GPM and the water can be sent to either course. Currently we are pumping all of the water out of this well to the irrigation lake on the North. It will take some time before lake levels return to normal, but this well certainly provides a much needed boost.

1. Re-installing the pipe, pump, and motor

2. Water!!!Checking the pump and flushing out the pipe

3. Everything hooked back up and pumping!

Course Update 6/7

Another busy week at Sonterra...

Well Work on #8: We are expected to have our #8 Well on the South up and running later today! If everything works as planned this will provide a huge boost to our irrigation systems on both courses.

North Course: Greens were lightly topdressed yesterday. The overseed is finally checking out. We are trying to get the greens rolling as quick as possible without sacrificing smoothness. We are no longer worried about healthy grass long term as this will be the last week of play on the greens. However, the goal is to maintain smooth putting surfaces as the grass begins to die out. We are using a combination of rolling, mowing, brushing, topdressing, and water management to achieve this task.

South Course: Greens were lightly topdressed yesterday and sprayed today. We are still working to increase putting speeds on the South. However, unlike the North, we must be cautious about the long term health of the greens. This is particularly true this year as we will have much more traffic on the South while the project takes place on the North.

Drought Conditions: Currently we are planning to make both courses cart path only beginning on 6/13. Due to the severity of the drought the grass simply cannot take the additional stress from cart traffic. Nobody likes being required to stay on the paths, however until we can recover from the drought it will be absolutely critical in order to maintain acceptable playing conditions. Please take a look at the picture below. This picture was taken yesterday on #7 N. You can see the damage that occurs when traffic signs are ignored and the damage that results. Please encourage your playing parnters and fellow members to follow all traffic signs.