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

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.

Course Update 5/31/2011

Drought Restrictions: WE NEED RAIN!!! We are expected to officially hit Stage 2 restrictions later today. We are working around the clock to make the most out of our irrigation cycles. Please follow all cart signs and stay on the path as much as possible.

North Greens: The greens survived the hot and windy Memorial Day weekend. However, the 100 degree temps and high winds have taken their toll and our winter grass is definitely fading fast. We are confident that the greens will continue to putt well through the Sunburst Tournament and into the renovation with speeds increasing everyday. North greens will be topdressed tomorrow and sprayed on Thursday.

South Greens: The Emerald is doing well on all of the South greens. We still have a couple of thin areas but the greens are actively growing and should completely fill in soon. We are excited about putting quality on the South and feel that conditions will only get better in the coming weeks. South greens will be sprayed today.

#8 Well: We are anxiously awaiting the test results on the well. I expect this well to be repaired in the near future so that we will have a much needed boost to both of our irrigation lakes. I will post more on this as soon as I have the information.

Thank you all for your support and we look forward to a great summer!

Course Update 5/25

We will be finishing the bunker edging on both courses today. In addition, the fairways on the south were mowed, and the greens on the North have been lightly topdressed. This topdressing will help improve ball roll. The North greens will  be sprayed tomorrow. Thanks for visiting the blog and check back soon for more updates.

#18 South

Course Update 5/24

We have a lot going on this week on both courses.

North Course: Tees, fairways, and roughs fertilized. We will be edging bunkers today and tomorrow. This is an extremely labor intensive task that takes the better part of two days. Please be patient as playing conditions in the bunkers will be inconsistent during this process. Greens will be topdressed, sprayed, and possibly verti-cut later this week. The hot and humid weather is not good for our overseed on the greens. As a result we must take steps to minimize stress on the greens. This may result in slower speeds over the next couple of days.

South Course: Tees, fairways, and roughs fertilized. We will  be edging bunkers on the South the next couple of days. This process takes less time on the South than the North, however we will not finish until sometime tomorrow. Greens were sprayed today, and may be topdressed and verti-cut later this week. We also aerated all of the tees on the South. This much needed cultural practice combined with the fertilizer application will help the tees out quite a bit.

#8 Well: We should find out some definite information later today regarding the status of the #8 well. Last week the crew from Peerless Equipment pulled almost 1000ft of pipe out of the ground. Near the pump we noticed a hole in the pipe that could be the cause of a severed power wire. These two issues are the suspected cause of the failure of this well quite some time ago. The pump and motor are currently being tested in order determine whether they can be reused. Hopefully, we will be able to get this well repaired and running again soon.

Course Update 5/20

North Course: We are still trying to "walk the line" when discussing the North greens. We are confident now that the overseed will last through the Sunburst. However, the goal is to have the grass peak at the right time. Practices such as vertical mowing, double cutting, rolling, water management, and the use of growth regulators all increase green speed and stress. We are trying a combination of these practices to steadily increase speeds as we approach the tournament dates. Our primary objective when preparing for any big tournament is to avoid a big change in speed immediately before the event. We have put together a plan using a combination of the above practices that will help us achieve this goal.

South Course: Greens were topdressed and fertilized yesterday. In addition, the height of cut on the mowers as been lowered for this weekends play. Much the same as the North, we have a plan that should steadily increase putting quality and speed over the next couple of weeks. The men's and women's tees on #1 will be open for play this weekend. Please keep in mind that the sod is still very young and will continue to need heavy topdressing over the next couple of weeks. These tees may be closed at times for maintenance and recovery.

Well Work: Many of you may have seen the crew from Peerless Equipment on #8 of the South yesterday. Our #8 well was drilled in 2005 and has not been functional for quite some time. We contracted with Peerless to pull the well and troubleshoot any problems. This particular well is almost 1000ft deep and taps into the Trinity Glen Rose Aquifer. The crew removed 46 - 21ft sections of 4inch galvanized pipe. Initially reports look promising that we will be able to get this well up and going very soon - providing a much needed boost to our irrigation lakes on both courses. Check out the pics and video below.

Course Update 5/13

There several things going on that I would like to briefly touch on:

1. RAIN!!! - We received just under an inch on Thursday morning. This rain was badly needed for both the course and the aquifers. Thursday would have marked the 101st day without significant rainfall for Sonterra. We are very grateful and certainly need more to come. Before the rain, we were just inches from hitting Stage 2 restrictions. It is important to remember that we are still in an exceptionally bad drought and Stage 1 restrictions will remain in place for quite some time.

2. Sod Work - We re-sodded and re-leveled both the Men's and Women's tee boxes on number 1. We also repaired #4 Men's tee, and several  other small areas on the course. These areas will be heavily topdressed and mowed very soon. Thank you for your patience as we try to improve the tees.

3. Bunkers- I am sure many of you have noticed that we replaced the sand in both of the practice bunkers (driving range and chipping green)

4. Greens - We are confident that the North greens are going to survive until the renovation. The South greens have completely healed from aeration. Both courses have slow greens today due to the rain. However, speeds will steadily increase over the next couple of weeks.

5. North Greens Renovation - We are currently finalizing all the detail pertaining the renovation. We have decided on the contractor, grass (Mini-Verde),  and sand supplier. We are now waiting on some permitting issues to be resolved so that we can make everything official. I will be posting much more on the renovation in the coming weeks and all throughout the project.

6. Divot Filling Party- The divot filling party on Good Friday was a huge success. Thank you to everyone who came and helped out. The USGA published a short article on the party which was sent out to over 10,000 golf courses nation wide. To view the article click here:   The Green Section Record  May 6

Course Update 5/6

Drought Conditions: 86 DAYS! without measurable rain. With no rain in the forecast it appears obvious that we will hit Stage 2 restrictions in the next 5 to 10 days.

South Course: Greens have healed nicely from last weeks aeration. In order to expedite the healing process the greens were topdressed twice this week and fertilized yesterday. Overall the greens on the South are doing well. Next week, we will begin pushing them a little bit harder. I predict that in the next two to three weeks they will be putting much better. We are also looking into re-sodding a few of the tee boxes on the South. We are considering the back tees on 1 and 4. Work on these tees may begin very soon.

North Course: Greens are hanging on! The overseed is still doing well, and there is a lot of champion coming through. I predict that the greens will still be putting well in time for the Sunburst. We have recently minimized all rolling and double cutting on the North Greens. This will help eliminate stress and help the grass make the final push.

North Renovation Project: I will post more on this later, however I just wanted to provide a brief update.

1. Final decisions on contractor will be made today
2. We are planting Mini-Verde Ultradwarf bermuda
3. The sand will come from Osburn Materials in San Antonio - (we are waiting for more test results to determine the exact sand)
4. The greens will be cored out to a depth of 6"
5. Contours and perimeters will stay the same
6. Construction process will start on June 13th
7. Planting will begin on July 1
8. Grow-in  from July 1 to Sept. 15
9. Sept. 15 - Re-Open
10. Hopefully mother nature cooperates

Thank you for visiting my blog. I will return to posting more frequently when my new computer arrives.

Course Update 4/29

We completed our first aeration on the South greens on Wednesday evening. The process went very smooth and the maintenance staff did a great job getting it all done in one afternoon. If you have not putted on the greens since mid-week then I encourage you to try them out this weekend. I think you will be surprised with the quality of putting so soon after aeration. We pulled small cores on a very tight spacing. This process allows us to remove quite a bit of organic matter without major disruptions in putting quality. The holes are still visible, but do not have a big impact on ball roll. Unfortunately, we cannot use this process every time. There will be aerations later in the year that result in larger holes.

Course Update 4/27

I apologize for the lapse in updates. My work computer recently died. Our IT department is working hard to save as many files as possible, but it doesn't look good at this point.

We are still under Stage 1 Drought Restrictions, and expected to enter Stage 2 in the next week or two. We are working hard to keep both courses alive and well during this dry stretch through careful irrigation practices. In addition, we are working to get more of our wells operational.

North Greens: Overall the greens on the North are doing very well. The overseed is still hanging on and a lot of Champion can be seen coming through. Greens speeds have improved over the last couple of weeks. We are still trying to keep them healthy so that we can survive until the project starts on June 13. Tomorrow will mark the third consecutive week of Primo applications. Primo is a growth regulator that is helping to keep green speeds consistent without causing additional stress.

South Greens: The greens on the South have really started to actively grow in the last couple of weeks. Currently they are thick and healthy - which results in slower putting speeds. This has been our goal since early spring. We must first get the greens strong before we can begin to push our more aggressive summer maintenance practices. The South will be closed after 12:00 today so that we can lightly aerate the greens. These small holes will open the surface and provide a variety of benefits. These include: more oxygen for the roots, better water infiltration, reduced thatch, reduced compaction, and softer more receptive greens. In addition, we will roll the greens immediately after - this will help smooth out some of the rough areas from last years sod. These holes will be visible for the next 7 to 10 days, however we expect putting quality to return to normal in no time. Once this aeration is complete, we will quickly move into more aggressive maintenance practices which will improve overall putting quality while maintaining plant health.

Course Update 4/18

Monday begins another busy week at Sonterra. Both courses have double shotgun tournaments at 8am and 1pm.

North Course - Greens double cut, collars and approaches mowed, all other normal practices.
South Course - Greens single cut, collars and approaches mowed, all other normal practices

We are still without any rain, and both courses are showing signs of drought stress. The waterfalls will remain off for at least the next 30 days. Stage 1 drought restrictions are not lifted until the aquifer remains over 660 for that 30 days or more. With no rain in the forecast it appears that the restrictions are here to stay for quite some time. Please use extra care with golf carts. We still several groups with as many carts as players. Please be flexible and ride with someone in your group.

Other News

We plan to spray greens on both courses this week. Tuesday - South, and Thursday - North. We will also fertilie on Tuesday - North and Thurdsay - South.

Vandals returned to the South Course on Friday night. The broke a sprinkler head, did donuts on 14 G, and broke a flagstick from #4 green. The damage on 14G is moderate and will be evident for a least a few weeks. If you have any information on who might have done this please let us know - as this has been a reoccuring problem on both courses.

Course Update 4/16

North: Greens single cut and rolled, all other normal practices.

South: Greens single cut and rolled, all other normal practices.

A nice cool morning to start the day. Currently it is 54 and it looks like a great day for golf with the winds being quite a bit calmer yesterday.

Waterfalls on the North

Stage One drought restrictions prevent us from running any water feature that does not use "re-use water". "Re-Use" is also known as "Grey Water" or "Effluent". All of our water comes from wells in the Edwards and Trinity Glen Rose aquifers, therefore we must abide by these restrictions. We are currently in contact with SAWS to determine if there is any way to obtain a variance that will allow us to run the waterfalls on 6 and 17. However, until a determination is made - we must abide by the rules. Thank you for your patience with this matter.