Course Update 3/16

Good Morning,

As we conclude another busy week, I would like to take a few moments to update everyone on several topics.

GREENS:

18 Green South on 3/16.

Overall the greens on both courses are doing well and are very healthy. The only weak or thin areas are located in areas that receive excessive shade, traffic, or a combination of the two. This is to be expected, and I anticipate full recovery once the grass begins to actively grow. It is important to remember that we are still in March. Even though we have experienced abnormally warm temperatures so far this year, the greens are not fully awake yet.While, it is tempting to start pushing green speeds with lower mower heights, double cutting, and more frequent rolling - we must keep in mind that the greens are still transitioning from winter to spring. Our goal right now is to prepare the greens for a successful summer. In order to do that we must carefully monitor our fertility, mowing heights, cultural practices, and chemical applications.  In the last month we have lightly aerated, topdressed, spiked, and lightly fertilized all of the greens repeatedly. We have combined all of the aforementioned practices with a dedicated and consistent spray program to get the greens in the best shape possible given the time of year. In short, our goal in the spring is to get the greens healthy so that we can push them harder during the summer creating faster more consistent putting surfaces. Unfortunately, this practice may sometimes result in slower putting speeds during the spring months.

We have periodically closed the South Practice Putting Green over the last couple of weeks. The green is weak from excessive winter traffic. We have already seen significant improvement and thank you for your patience as we work to get it back in good shape.  

OTHER MAINTENANCE

Pre-Emerge: We will begin applying our spring pre-emergent this coming Tuesday. In order to prevent burn, and to get the most out of this expensive application we will be closing the North Course until 12:00pm. After 12:00pm we will most likely be cart path only. Thank you for your patience as we finish this necessary task.

Weeds: We have been aggressively trying to control weeds on both courses. Over the past two weeks we have made several applications to tees, green surrounds, and roughs. Some of the herbicides that we use take 4 to 6 weeks to take effect. There are still a lot of weeds out there, but rest assured we are doing everything possible to get/keep them under control

Tees/Fairways: We are now mowing tees and fairways one to two times a week depending on weather. Our pre-emergent herbicide will applied next week. This combination of herbicide and fertilizer will certainly help get these areas ready for summer.

Bunkers: The liners have now been removed on 1 through 12 greenside bunkers on the North. We are still committed to removing all the liners, but have recently had to put this project on hold, and concentrate on normal maintenance practices such as mowing and weedeating.

PROJECTS:

There is a lot happening on both courses right now. The list below should provide insight into a few of the things going on. Please email me or check back later for more information.

• 281/1604 Interchange- Part of this major project involves widening the bridge on the North side of 1604 crossing over the cart path to the South Course. In order to complete this expansion new pillars must to be erected. Unfortunately, they are being placed directly on our existing cart path. After communicating this issue to the contractor, they agreed to expand our path in order to allow continued access to the South Course.

The new cart path under 1604

• 13 Tee/ 4Tee - CPS is requiring us to lower the elevation of the mounds beneath the power lines between 13 Tee and 3 Tee on the North. This project will not effect the actual tee boxes or any other area that is in play. The work must be completed by May 1st. I will post more later
• Bunker Liners on the North
• Drain Lines on the South
• Arroyo Cleanup- The City of San Antonio has been working in the arroyos on the South for the last couple of weeks. They are tasked with debris removal in order to maintain flood control.
• Pump Station- We are still in the process of preparing for our North Course pump station replacement.
• North Irrigation- We are working hard to get the North Course irrigation system ready for another summer. Some of improvements/repairs we are making include: valve replacement, head mapping, changing heads, controller repairs, and re-programming.