What TIME was our tee time?

We installed our new clock on the driving tee. There should be no late starts with this new time piece. 

How far out am I?

We have finally installed all our new fairway yardage markers. We went with a nice engraved natural stone that's been engraved with the corresponding yardage. There will be one placed at 100 yards, 150 yards, 200 yards on par 4's, and 250 yards on the par 5's. They look really good and give a nice upscale look. 

Mid summer relief!!

We are aerifying tee's and collars this week. 

Now that's the distance!!

Finally got the new driving Range tee yardage markers in and installed. They look great!  Just the beginning of several more little detail items to come.

Winter Kill

Turf Talk with Dan! 

Winter Kill 

The arctic front that rapidly moved across Texas this winter, brought conditions that included well-below freezing temperatures that lasted for multiple days. These conditions presented a real danger to bermudagrass golf courses.   

Bermudagrass is a warm season turfgrass that enters a dormant state after the first hard frost of the year. Although the top of the plant (the leaves) are brown and appear dead, the underground portions of the turf (stolons, rhizomes, and roots) are alive. The turf will return to active growth when warmer temperatures return in the spring. The soil serves as a buffer to protect healthy bermudagrass, but when temperatures drop to well below freezing or are sustained over many days, even the underground plant parts can freeze and die. 

The severity of the kill depends on many factors, including the health of the turf going into the winter, the amount of traffic the area receives, shade (which results in lower temperatures), and the height that the turf is mowed. As a general rule, the lower the height of cut, the greater the likelihood of damage. This is why courses with Bermudagrass greens, collars, fairways, and especially weaker turf areas are more susceptible than other areas of the golf course. 

Here are some examples of higher risk of turf damaged areas: 

Excessive desiccation 
Excessive wind, especially during periods of low humidity, often can cause massive areas of winter damage. So this is in reference to many of the higher ground areas, hills, and mounds. 

Shade on bermudagrass 
Shade reduces the carbohydrate levels in bermudagrass, produces a weaker plant, and keeps soil temperatures lower due to lack of sunlight. Competition from tree roots for nutrients and water also weaken turf grasses. Slopes facing the north or northeast receive less (or little) direct sunlight in the winter and are more prone to injury.  For example:  The mounded areas we are sodding around #14 green complex and will be shortly sodding around #15 green complex.  This is also the reason we have allot of bare dirt areas on hole #14 left and right rough.  These areas were weak going into the winter and then having such a severe winter it really set the Bermudagrass way back and killed allot of it. 

Moisture 
Moisture is one of the crucial keys to surviving threw a hard winter.  If it's a moderate to heavy rainy winter than moisture is not a factor.  But if you have a very dry/windy winter like we had this year,  the need for irrigation threw the winter is very important.  It's not that your watering the grass to grow, it's more like your watering the dormant grass to survive and to protect the important parts of the plant (stolons, rhizomes, and roots) when the temperatures do get and stay below freezing. 

As you have noticed we have been sodding allot of areas and we are going to continue to sod and push allot of these weaker areas with quick release fertilizers. 


As always, Thank You for your patience and understanding to the golf courses conditions and on going practices to bring our club to the best that it can be. 


Daniel Boley 
Golf Course Superintendent 
The Hills Course

Greens need roots!!

Geeens are looking really good right now!  Roots are nice and white and I'm very pleased with the root depth. We are driving roots in the spring. We want deep and white roots, so going into the summer we are as healthy as can be. The roots will shrink up and reduce threw the heat of the summer. So the deeper we can drive them in the spring the more successful we will be threw the summer. 

Sod here, sod there, soon to be sod everywhere!

As you guys know we have several areas around the course that are more dirt than grass. I will be addressing some of these areas this spring. My focus is more of the high traffic and visible areas for now. The other concern is that the irrigation is in very poor condition and a lot of these areas are from lack of irrigation. So, I can't just go and sod every little dirt spot on the course (as much as I would like to).  Especially if there's no water to keep it alive. So there's my dilemma. Trust me I would love to half 100% turf on the golf course just as bad as you guys. So it will be a slow process, but just know that I'm working in the right direction, it's just going to be an uphill climb. I just ask for your patience and support and together we will get this course back to its prime. 

Here are a few pictures of some sodding taken place at clubhouse, #10 green walk on area, and #9 left rough. 

Nursery green is on the way!!

Nursery green construction started today. We will soon have the availability of repairing the greens in house. 

Front entrance, WOW FACTOR!!

The front entrance flower beds have been very lacking over the last year, but not for much longer. We have new plant material that has arrived and I have a design that should transform it to a new, fresh look. It will pop and make our club entrance stand out. I will be posting several during and after pictures.  So get ready for that, WOW FACTOR!!

Bridge #9

As many of you may have noticed the bridge on #9 is very loud and noisy when you drive across it. Well, not anymore. We went in and applied heavy duty bolts and lock nuts to every board on both sides. This new improvement has silenced the bridge to very little sound at all. Also, we will be applying a rubber mat down the middle of the bridge for the walkers and it will help quiet the bridge even more. 

FROST DELAY!! WHY??

When frost is present golf course superintendents delay play until the
frost has melted. This is done to prevent damage that affects the quality
of the playing surface and could potentially be very expensive to repair.

Frost is basically frozen dew that has crystallized on the grass, making it
hard and brittle. A grass blade is actually 90 percent water, therefore it
also freezes. Because of the short mowing height (sometimes as low as 1/8
inch) and fragile nature of the turf, putting greens are most affected by
frost. Walking on frost-covered greens causes the plant to break and cell
walls to rupture, thereby losing its ability to function normally. When the
membrane is broken, much like an egg, it cannot be put back together.

Golfers who ignore frost delays will not see immediate damage. The proof
generally comes 48-72 hours later as the plant leaves turn brown and die.
The result is a thinning of the putting surface and a weakening of the
plant. The greens in turn become more susceptible to disease and weeds.
While it may not appear to be much of an issue if a foursome begins play
early on frost-covered greens, consider the number of footprints that may
occur on any given hole by one person is approximately 60. Multiply that by
18 holes with an average of 200 rounds per day and the result is 216,000
footprints on greens in a day or 6,480,000 in a month.

As golf enthusiasts superintendents do not like to delay play, but they are
more concerned about turf damage and the quality of conditions for the
golfer. Frost also creates a hardship on a golf facility's staff as all
course preparations are put to a halt until thawing occurs. Golf carts can
cause considerable damage, therefore personnel cannot maneuver around the
course to mow, change cup positions, collect range balls, etc.(Cybergolf News)

Thank you for understanding the importance of delaying the play do to frost
and freezing conditions.