Course Update 7/25/11

North Course: The North greens renovation is still on schedule. The greens have now been planted for a little over three weeks. All of the greens are established and doing well. We started mowing last week at 0.25 inches. Our goal now is to aggressively push the greens so that full coverage can be obtained in the next few weeks. We accomplish this by rolling, fertilzing, mowing, and topdressing. All of these are practices that take place during normal greens maintenance. However, during a grow-in the frequency is greatly intensified. We have a detailed schedule and plan of attack that will help get the greens grown in as quickly as possible.

Hipolito Gonzales cutting number 14 for the first time

July 20th

6 Green on July 22nd

6 Green on July 22nd

6 Green on July 9

South Course: The South greens have now completely healed from the aeration, vertical mowing, and brushing that has taken place in the last two weeks. We are removing a few dead trees between 13 and 14 today. In addition, tomorrow we will spray tees. Greens will be sprayed on Thursday.

Course 7/15/11

North Course:  Everything is still on schedule as the greens are now two weeks old. I would like to thank all of you who came out on Tuesday to see first hand the progress the greens have made. We have started to decrease the water are trying a variety of practices to help firm up the greens in preparation for mowing. The picture below shows Jose Moreno using a 11/2 ton asphalt roller to smooth and compact #3 green. 

SAWS Variance Request: The golf shop has received numerous calls about the greens being watered during daytime hours - violating the drought restrictions. We have permission from SAWS to water during the day based on a variance request granted for our greens renovation. We are still complying with the drought restrictions for golf courses - including a 30% reduction in overall usage. Basically, we are devoting most of water to the greens and not watering other areas of the property as much.

South Course: All of the greens were successfully aerated and fertilized on Monday the 11th. The process went smooth and the greens have already shown significant recovery. This aeration consisted of small holes on a very tight spacing. The process for completing this task is listed below.

1. Aerate greens using walk behind aerator
2. Remove cores
3. Blow excess debris and cores off the greens
4. Brush the sand back into the holes
5. Water
6. Roll
7. Fertilize
8. Water again

The South putting green immediately after aeration.

We are currently using a combination of double mowing, rolling, and brushing to increase the recovery time. In addition we are currently trying a new grooming brush combined with vertical mowing to help eliminate some of the grain. On Monday the 18th we plan to vertical mowing and lightly topdress.

Course Update 7/9/11

North Course: Our greens are officially one week old! We are happy with the progress so far. The sprigs are healthy and have started to develop more extensive roots. As the roots develop, we steadily begin to cut the water back and begin to treat the sprigs more like greens. We will use a combination of fertilizer, sand, and various types of rollers in the next few days to smooth the surface and promote lateral growth. This will help us prepare for the first mowing sometime in the next two weeks.

Isidro checking the roots on 17G

A turtle enjoys the cool wet sand on 7G

South Course: We will be aerating the South greens on Monday following play. This will be the same aeration method used twice earlier this year. We have decided to repeat this same light aeration in order to keep the disruption to play at a minimum. Our plan is to repeat this procedure at 2 to 3 more times this year. I anticipate the greens will be rolling fine by the end of the week. Thank you for your patience while complete this necessary maintenance.

Nursery Area: I have had several questions about the nursery area between #2,#3, and #8. We have added two new greens and completely re-designed this area of the course. One of the greens has been planted to Emerald (the grass on the South greens) and the other to Mini-verde (the new grass on the North greens). The area around these greens has been sodded and sprigged to Tifway 419 bermuda grass. Ten new sprinklers were installed to keep this area properly irrigated. The addition of nursery greens will be a huge help in keeping the greens on the course healthy and putting well. They will provide a source of healthy grass to repair damage or weak areas. These greens will recieve the same maintenance practices as the rest of the greens on site. In addition, the 419 will be mowed at similar heights of cut as the tees, fairways, and rough on the rest of the course. This area will primarily be a nursery. However, we feel that it will also be a great place to practice your short game. The plan is to open this area to chipping and putting once the grass is established.



Nursery Area soon after planting

Course Update 7/4/11

Happy 4th of July!

I apologize for the long gap in updates. We have had a very busy past couple of weeks and there is a lot of information to share.

North Course

• Landscapes Unlimited completed the construction phase on schedule.
• King Ranch Turf has sprigged all of the greens except the nursery
• The sprigs have already started growing roots
• Construction on our nursery/practice area and greens has been completed and is currently being grown in. This is the area between 2 green, 3 green, and 8 tee box. I will post more on this area later, but I believe that it will be a great addition to the club.
• The railroad tie steps on #4 have been removed and replaced with rock. This are is still under construction.
• All fairways and most roughs have been aerated
• Construction is in progress to improve the landscaping on #1 Tee

Now that construction is finished and all the greens are planted; we have entered the grow-in phase of our project. The greens will be watered and closely monitored around the clock. It is critical that we maintain adequate moisture at all times as the plants do not have an established root system yet. In order to do this we must water during the day. All of the greens are constantly given light watering with sprinklers - all day, everyday for the first week or so. We have been given permission from SAWS through a variance request to complete this phase of the project. Also please understand that we are using water from our Trinity wells and not water from the Edwards Aquifer. Once the greens establish roots the water will be scaled back accordingly. As roots develop, we will also begin to fertilize, topdress, and roll on a very frequent basis. Please keep checking the blog and the clubs main page for pictures and more details.

South Course

• We received 1.5" of rain last week which has made huge difference on both courses.
• Tees were aerated and fertilized last week.
• Greens were verticut and fertilized
• Greens are scheduled for light aeration on 7/11