Hills Course Conditions Update

Hills Course Conditions Update

 

I wanted to take this opportunity to update the membership on a couple areas on the course.

 

Roughs

 

We are currently mowing the roughs at 2”.  An interesting note about our course is that holes 1-18 have common Bermuda grass and Holes 19-27 have 419 Bermuda grass.  With that said, it is important to know the differences between these two types of Bermuda grasses.  Common Bermuda grass is not very dense, meaning it is more wiry because all the leaf blades are on the tops of the shoots.  This causes the golf ball to drop to the bottom when it comes to rest.  The Common Bermuda makes it harder for golfers to locate their golf ball and slow play down.  Even when the grass is freshly cut, the ball still drops down out of site.  As for the 419 Bermuda grass, it is a high-density turf that allows the ball to sit up on the plant better and is more visible and easier to locate due to more densely located leaf blades throughout the plant shoots.

 

In addition, we are also implementing new out of play native/natural areas in the roughs.  In these areas we are letting the Bermuda grass grow up naturally and create a native type look and height.  These areas will not be mowed, but we will be maintaining and controlling the weeds in these areas.  This is going to add a new dynamic to the course and it also allows the mowers to get around to the playable areas more frequently, keeping our roughs at a more consistent height.

 

 

 

Greens

 

Due to the amount of rain we have had this spring and early summer, the greens are very healthy.  We have a very dense and deep root system for this time of year.  This causes the growth to be more rapid and for the leaf blades to be larger and more dense.  This is a good thing for the overall health of the greens, but does create a slower ball speed when it comes to playability.  We are applying a growth regulator product to help speed up the putting surface.  We will also be performing light topdressing of sand once per week to help firm up the canopy of the plant and allow a harder surface, which will increase ball speed.  The healthy anddense turf we currently have will help in reducing the effects of compaction due to the amount of rounds that are played on a weekly basis.  We will also be rolling the greens more frequently to also encourage a little more ball speed on the greens.    

 

As always thank you for your patience and consideration as we work to improve the course on a daily basis.

 

Dan Boley, GCS

Stonebridge Ranch CC-Hills Course

Leak! Leak! Leak!

With the last freeze dropping into the low 20's it not only caused ice to form but it also caused pipes to break. On #26 just past the bridge, even with the front tee's we had an 8" main line blow out the cart path. We had to remove two sections of the cart path that had been lifted up and shifted to the point of cracking. Once we exposed the pipe we found out that the Polly pipe had expanded and shrunk due to the freezing and thawing of the main line causing the 8" Polly pipe to flex itself out of a mechanical coupler. We have fixed the problem and have back filled the hole. We will need to allow time for settling and for the soil to seat into place before we can get the cart path repaired. I asked that you please bare with us during this process and we will have it back to normal in no time. 

New look at the driving range!!

We put all new poles on the target greens on the driving range.  We went with a bigger pole and painted them black and white. With new flags and a Smarty Laser Prism on the top.  These new poles really give a nice upscale look to the range!!

Signs, Signs, & Signs!!

We care so much about the details that we are giving our personal touch to all the signage from the course and hand painting them so they look as good as possible!!

Fresh Look!!

Fresh new flowers for the front of the clubhouse!!

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!!