Driving Range Mats

After listening to our resident's feedback we had the contractor who installed the mats come back out to lower the hitting mats flush with the standing areas at both LH and WW. The contractor did this at NO additional cost to us and should have this complete by the end of the week. 

Congratulations Josh Lockhart!

Cowan Creek Head Golf Proffesional Josh Lockhart and wife Jeanne welcomed a new edition into their lives today! Congratulations from the entire Sun City Golf Team!

Cowan Creek 2015 Superintendent Revenge

Another great turnout for this year's Superintendent Revenge tournament at Cowan Creek! We had great weather and hope that everyone enjoyed the tournament as much as we enjoyed setting it up! 

USGA Frost Delay Video

https://www.facebook.com/USGA/videos/10153877932339369/

Adopt A Hole Captain #18 Legacy Hills

We are in need of a volunteer to take  over as a the Adopt A Hole Captain for #18 @ LH. There are currently four volunteers that will continue to support the effort but don't wish to be captains. Thank you for your assistance. Interested parties please contact Matt Wiegand. (wiegandmatthew@gmail.com) (512-591-7158)

White Wing Driving Range Mats

After opening the White Wing Driving Range Mats up for use we've noticed that there has been some settling in areas of the mats. We have contacted Southwest greens and they will be coming back out to address the mats at White Wing. They are currently installing at another course and will be here on completion of that project. (Approx. 2 weeks) 

Cowan Creek Opening

 

Monday Oct. 19^th we will be re-opening Cowan Creek for play. The overseed has established nicely and we are continually working on its maturity with fertilizer, water and cultural practices. With the overseed being just 4 weeks old we will monitor it on a daily basis and rotate the course from 90 degree to Cart Path Only when we feel it is necessary. We will plan on observing the 90 degree rule for both WGA and MGA play days and major events. Any areas of the roughs and fairways that are still thin or have heavy traffic patterns will be roped off and we ask that golfers try to avoid these areas with their carts. We look forward to getting the course back in play and hope everyone enjoys playing Cowan Creek again!

Bunker Work Reminder

Just a reminder that if it is very apparent that we are in the middle of performing maintenance on a bunker you may play that particular bunker as Ground Under Repair. Signs that it is being worked on include, fresh sand, numerous in and out tire marks and boot prints. If someone isn't there at the time they are more than likely running back to the shop for more sand or additional tools. If you look back to the Blog post from August 6, 2015 you can see a full detail of the bunker maintenance plan that we've implemented and are having great success with.

 

Cowan Creek Fairway Overseed Complete!

The last day of Overseed is complete! Thanks to our friends down the road at Georgetown CC we were able to borrow a second Lely spreader and get done with the fairway overseeding as the sun was setting. We will post photos as things develop and keep everyone up to date. 

Cowan Creek Overseed Update 9/17/15

Day two of overseeding is in the books! We were able to get started earlier today and have everything complete minus the fill in portion of the fairways which we will be starting tomorrow morning. 

Cowan Creek Overseeding Update 9/16/15

Started the day off slow with some light drizzle holding us up this morning, but as we expected it burnt off around noon so that it was nice and humid by the time we started pushing the drop seeders. Today we were able to seed all of the collars around greens and all of the approach cuts. Tomorrow we will be outlining the fairways with the drop spreader and doing the center portions of the fairways with the broadcast Lely. While this is taking place we will also be overseeding the tee boxes. More to come....

Cowan Creek Overseed Overview

Submitted by: Craig Loving, Cowan Creek Golf Club Superintendent

 ​Beginning on Monday, September 14th, we will begin the overseeding process at Cowan Creek.  This year in addition to the blue, green, and red tees, we will be overseeding the fairways, and collars and approaches.  The overseeding of the fairways and approaches will have multiple positive impacts on the conditions of the turf and subsurface.  Over the past month, the dead areas from the water line break have gradually gotten smaller and smaller, but there are some areas that won’t be completely healed by the end of the growing season.  By overseeding these areas, the healthy cool season turf (perennial ryegrass) will create a buffer from foot and cart traffic as the bermudagrass goes dormant.  As we enter spring transition next year, the bermudagrass and ryegrass will compete in accordance to air and soil temperatures, so the overseed transition should be gradual.  Another benefit of the overseeding is the buildup of organic matter in the soil, which will help with nutrient and water retention in the long term. 

​The following paragraphs and bullet points will detail what the current plans are for the overseeding process, as well as what we hope to achieve and when we hope to achieve it.

• Monday-Tuesday (September 14-15th):  begin prep of overseeded areas

o Fairways:  verticut @ 1/16th inches, mow @ .500”, buffalo blow debris off of fairways, paint fairway perimeters

o Tees ( all blue, green, red, all par 3, all #14):  verticut @ 1/16th inches, mow @ .500” with tee walk mowers (with buckets), buffalo blow debris off of fairways, paint perimeters

o Collars & Approaches:  verticut @ 1/16th inches,  mow at .500” with triplex approach mowers (with buckets), buffalo blow debris off of collars and approaches, paint perimeters

• Tuesday-Wednesday (September 15th-16th): Overseed

o Fairways:  Seed rate – 12 lbs. /1000 sq. ft (~522 lbs. / Acre) Perennial ryegrass

▪ Overseed perimeters with pull-behind drop spreader; 2 passes

▪ Overseed interior with Lely broadcast spreader

o Collars & Approaches:  Seed rate – 12 lbs. / 1000 sq. ft (~522 lbs. / Acre) Per. rye

▪ Overseed collars and approach perimeter with walk behind drop spreader

▪ Overseed approaches with walk behind rotary broadcast spreader

o Tees:  Seed rate – 12 lbs. /1000 sq. ft (~522 lbs. / Acre) Perennial rye/fescue mix

▪ Overseed perimeters and interior with walk behind drop spreader, two directions

The timeline may be altered one way or another by any issues that may occur, but the overseeding process should be complete by mid-late week.  Afterwards, we will set up irrigation cycles to keep the soil the correct moisture for seed establishment.  Depending on weather conditions, the first seed shoots should sprout within 8-10 days.  The overseed will be ready to mow somewhere around 14 days after overseeding.  This will be done in the afternoon when the grass is dry to keep the new grass from ripping from the roots.

A majority of our focus after overseeding will be moisture management, and we will fertilize with both granular bulk applications as well as foliar sprays.  There will more than likely be areas that need additional attention and re-applications of seed for proper establishment.  Our ultimate goal is to provide excellent playing conditions throughout the winter, as well as building organic matter in the soil for long-term improvement of the playing conditions in the fairways.  Although this may not completely alleviate the current issues with the weak areas come springtime, it should minimize the amount of sodding we will have to do next year.

Cowan Creek Closure for Overseeding

On Sept. 14^th we will be shutting down Cowan Creek until Oct. 19^th for overseeding of the fairways. After losing the main irrigation supply line due to a break located under Sun City Blvd. we were unable to water fairways for 11 days in July. This limited us to watering greens and tees only at both White Wing and Cowan Creek. Due to the sand base that Cowan Creek was built on it dried out much quicker than White Wing and the turf health suffered the most out of the two. We have been pushing the fairways with extra fertilizer and water in an effort to get the fairways to heal up but there are some areas that are going to take a lot more time.

Overseeding will provide a nice playing surface throughout the winter months and into the late spring. This will be beneficial to the fairways in the long term because it will allow us to start building up some organic matter in the soil. This will also help out with any future drought type situations. Overseeding will also allow us time to keep pushing the Bermuda grass through transition in the spring and early summer. That being said, with certain areas of the fairways being almost completely dead right now we will more than likely have areas during transition that will be thin or need to be re-sodded altogether.

In short, overseeding gives us the best playing conditions possible moving forward and it also gives us the best chance to push the Bermuda grass for re-establishment next year.

 

During the time frame that Cowan Creek is closed we will not have closed Mondays at the other two courses.

2015 August Course Conditions

We have completed all of our large core aerifications of the year on greens and are looking forward to excellent greens conditions throughout the remainder of the growing season moving into fall. The biggest challenge that we have right now are the Cowan Creek fairways and getting them back in shape and returning to 90 degrees. Below is a summary of everything we have done since losing our water supply due to the non-potable water line break under Sun City Blvd.

Cowan Creek Recovery Maintenance Plan

            As you may know, the broken pipe that fed White Wing and Cowan Creek’s irrigation pond has taken its toll on the Cowan Creek fairway’s and rough.  Both courses went 10 full days without irrigation on all areas except greens and tees.  The following paragraphs will hopefully answer some common questions, including what we’ve been doing and what is planned to achieve full recovery.

Timeline:

• 7/17/15 – Pipe broken, water shut off
• 7/21/15 – sprayed green surrounds with a wetting agent and micronutrient fertilizer
• 7/27/15 – Pipe repaired, irrigation turned back on
• 7/28/15 – sprayed wetting agent on fairways, roughs, green surrounds
• 8/1-8/5 – watered maximum flow (1800 gpm) throughout course, 18 hours per day
• 8/3/15 – fertilized fairways with Helena Fairway Program (Coron 25-0-0, Nucleus 0-0-25, Axilo Magnesium, Axilo Micronutrients)
• 8/8, 8/9, 8/11-8/13/15 – watered maximum flow in needed areas, using local control boxes on individual holes
• 8/12/15 – fertilized fairways with Helena Fairway Program (Coron 25-0-0, Nucleus 0-0-25, Axilo Magnesium, Axilo Micronutrients)
• 8/13/15 – began fertilizing fairways with granular HydraHume organic fertilizer (humic acid)
• 8/19/15 – fertilized weak areas with 21-0-0 ammonium sulfate

            The wetting agents we use aid in water retention in the soil.  The fertilizer program we implemented should increase recovery time, as well as load the soil with nutrients for the long-term.  Maximum flow refers to the amount of water we can put out at one time without losing pressure.  For Cowan Creek, 1800 gallons per minute is generally the maximum amount of flow, which ranges from 60-90 irrigation heads at a time. 

Why did White Wing recover so much faster?

            There is a vast difference in soil types between Cowan Creek and White Wing (in fairways and rough).  Cowan Creek was built on straight sand and hasn’t had enough time to mature and build up organic matter within the soil.  This causes the soil to dry out much faster than more mature, clay or silt-based soil.  White Wing’s soil is more clay-based, which has a much greater ability to retain moisture over long periods of time. 

When will it not be “Cart Path Only” at Cowan?

            Every hole has shown improvement over the past three weeks under the current irrigation and fertility program.  However, there are currently only a few holes that are almost completely covered.  Over the next week and moving forward we will assess individual holes to see if they are ready for cart traffic, but we don’t plan on allowing access to areas that are still recovering.  One of the most helpful factors to recovery this time of year is keeping traffic off our weak areas. 

Why is it taking so long?

            A majority of the areas in the fairways and rough that dried out and lost their color went into summer dormancy.  Similar to the winter months, the plant shuts down and focuses its energy on storing carbohydrates in the roots.  When we began watering again, this triggered the plant to “wake up” and focus its energy back to growth.  However, some of the areas on the course went beyond dormancy, and there are some areas on the golf course where the grass completely died. 

What is the plan to recover these areas?

            We are treating these areas as a “grow in”, which will require more time and a lot of effort to grow new grass where there is little.  Higher fertility, ample water, and aerifications (to open up pore space) will factor in on how quickly they recover.  This will be an ongoing process as the growing season continues and ends, at which point we will know what our plan of attack will be for the spring. 

            With the current fertility, irrigation, and cultural programs we’ve implemented to expedite recovery, time is still the greatest factor on the road to recovery.  The photos below will display what recovery we have achieved over time.  Over time, the healthy grass bordering areas of dead grass will grow laterally and reduce the size of the dead areas until they are completely gone.

 

Bunkers

The following procedures began Wednesday, July 29, 2015. The greenside bunkers being the main priority.

·         The bunkers are inspected every morning by the Superintendent and Assistant Superintendent at each course.

·         We have ordered new trap rakes that will be delivered prior to Aug. 21^st 2015 and this will help with any grooves left in the sand.

·         Each Course will have a staff member assigned to working on bunkers throughout each day. Their job will be to check depths, repair or remove liners and insure proper raking. This staff member will start after their first job assignment has been completed each morning. They will have rakes, shovels and all necessary equipment with them to address any deficiencies in bunker maintenance. This will take place daily until further notice.  

We are reviewing and revising our training of equipment operators in proper bunker care and educating as to what is the acceptable standards required. 

Cowan Creek – The fairway bunkers still have the original bunker liners that have been failing over the past two – three years. They are slowly being addressed by staff but the majority of the bunker refurbishment will be done this fall.

White Wing – We will continue to distribute one load of sand (22 tons) to the green side bunkers every week moving forward until we feel all adequate depths are being reached.

Legacy Hills – We are on the same daily schedule as the other two courses.

USGA Tracking

The tracking is going well and we’ve completed the first round at White Wing and Legacy Hills. Below are screen shot photos taken from hole #4 at White Wing to give you an idea of what the tracks look like once they are laid over Google Earth Pro.

 

Last Large Core Aerifications of the Year

Last week at Cowan Creek we completed the last of our large core Aerifications for the 2015 growing season. We can now look forward to having the greens at all three courses in great shape and free of Aerification moving into our heavy tournament months and hopefully more enjoyable playing weather. 

Cowan Creek Update

Below are pictures of the Cowan Creek progress being made. It is slow going but as you can see we are moving in the right direction. Hopefully the rain forecasted later during the week will hit Sun City and help us out. 

Cowan Creek Recovery Update

Cowan Creek is slowly but surely greening back up after having lost the ability to water fairways when the city irrigation supply line was under repair. Unfortunately the 100+ temperatures aren't helping the recovery process but as you can see in the attached photo we are making steady progress. 

Greens Aerification

 

Aerification

It’s that time of the year once again, we get out those dreaded machines that “mess up the greens” and start our aerification practices. Please realize that aerification is for the long term health of the turf and will ultimately promote a healthier green. 

“Aerification (also known as aeration) achieves three important objectives. It relieves soil compaction, it provides a method to improve the soil mixture around the highest part of a green’s roots and it reduces or prevents the accumulation of excess thatch.

Like so many things, the quality of a good putting green is more than skin deep. In fact, the condition of a green has a lot to do with what goes on below the surface. In order for grass to grow at 1/8-inch, it must have deep, healthy roots. Good roots demand oxygen. In good soil, they get the oxygen from tiny pockets of air trapped between soil and sand particles.

Over time, the traffic from golfer’s feet (as well as mowing equipment) tends to compact the soil under the putting green – particularly when the soil contains a lot of clay. When soil becomes compacted, the air pockets on which the roots depend are crushed, and the roots are essentially left gasping for air. Without oxygen, the grass plants become weaker and will eventually wither and die.

Aerification is a mechanical process that creates more air space in the soil and promotes deeper rooting, thus helping the grass plants stay healthy. In most cases, it’s done by removing half-inch cores (those plugs you sometimes see near a green or in fairways) from the compacted soil, allowing for an infusion of air and water that brings a resurgence of growth. The spaces are then filled with sand “topdressing” that helps the soil retain air space and makes it easier for roots to grow downward.

Older greens often are constructed of soils with significant amounts of silt, clay and fine organic particles that are prone to compaction. Filling aerification holes with sand improves drainage and resists compaction. The periodic introduction of sand to a green’s top layer can, over time, avoid or postpone expensive rebuilding or renovation of greens.

Finally, growing of turf adds to a layer of organic matter on the surface. This layer, called thatch, is an accumulation of dead stems, leaves and roots. A little organic matter makes for a resilient green, but too much invites diseases and insects. Topdressing with sand can prevent thatch buildup, and aerification is one of the best ways to reduce an existing layer and prevent an excess of thatch from becoming established.”

For several days after the aerification, the greens will not be as smooth as desired and the patience of all golfers will be tried to a certain extent. But rest assured, the greens will quickly return to a normal, smooth putting surface and will be all the healthier for the effort.

Aerification - Brought to you by the USGA

It's that time of year again! You can click on the link below and watch a USGA video on greens aerification and why we have to do it. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=863Ix8czcoY&list=PLnU5qUEfww3cOAU8iTQTUpF5S4UqhXJka&sns=em

Sun City Golf Club Bunker Maintenance

During the past several weeks many emails and conversations have gone on concerning our bunker maintenance practices or lack of.  We have discussed this and working with the staff have generated a plan and steps to improve and correct the situation.  Attached you will find the components of the plan. Please remember that you have the option of playing a Bunker as Ground Under Repair if you can see that it is obvious we are in the middle of working on it.

July 31, 2015

To:  Sun City Texas Golf Committee

 

From:  Gary Wilson   Director of Golf Course Maintenance

Ron Delaney   Director of Operations

Subject: Bunker Maintenance Plan 

White Wing – During this past week July 24 – July 28, 2015 we have added three semi- truck loads (66 tons) of sand to the White Wing bunkers. We will continue to distribute one load of sand (22 tons) to the green side bunkers every week moving forward until we feel all adequate depths are being reached.  Brad Sladek, Assistant Superintendent at Cowan Creek will be splitting his time between Cowan Creek and White Wing to assist Jonathan in implementing the new procedures outlined below.

Cowan Creek – The fairway bunkers still have the original bunker liners that have been failing over the past two – three years. They are slowly being addressed by staff but the majority of the bunker refurbishment will be done this fall.

The following procedures began Wednesday, July 29, 2015.

·         The bunkers are inspected every morning by the Superintendent and Assistant Superintendent at each course.

·         We have ordered new trap rakes that will be delivered prior to Aug. 17^th 2015 and this will help with any grooves left in the sand.

·         Each Course will have a staff member assigned to working on bunkers throughout each day. Their job will be to check depths, repair or remove liners and insure proper raking. This staff member will start after their first job assignment has been completed each morning. They will have rakes, shovels and all necessary equipment with them to address any deficiencies in bunker maintenance. This will take place daily until further notice.  

We are reviewing and revising our training of equipment operators in proper bunker care and educating as to what is the acceptable standards required. 

In the next few weeks I (Ron Delaney) am relocating my office to the White Wing Pro Shop.  The purpose of the move is bring me more to the “center” of our golf operations and maintenance and to be more accessible to residents.

GPS Tracking

Beginning with this mornings tee times at White Wing we will be asking golfers to carry small GPS tracking devices in their pockets.  These trackers will provide us data on golfer traffic patterns on the golf course.  Where are you driving on the fairways, what parts of the golf course are being used and which are not, which bunkers are really in play and other data.  The data is then overlaid on Google Earth providing very clear maps showing patterns on the course.  We will be collecting data on all courses during the month of August.  This project is being done in conjunction with the USGA who are assisting us and providing the trackers at no charge.  The results will be extremely useful as we move forward with refurbishing and upgrading the courses in the future.  We appreciate your participation and cooperation.

White Wing Course and Driving Range Open

White Wing Golf Club will re-open tomorrow July 31st and return to the 90 Degree Rule for cart traffic. We ask that you try to avoid any areas that are still dry (they will look brown) and keep carts in the roughs as much as possible. The Driving Range at White Wing will also be open starting tomorrow.

Non-potable Irrigation Water Supply Update

The non-potable irrigation water supply line that has been under repair for the past week and a half has been fixed. We are now receiving water to the WW irrigation pond which is the irrigation source for both WW and CC golf courses. We have been running heavy irrigation cycles in order to catch the dry areas back up with the rest of the course and WW will be 90 degree again when we re-open this Friday. CC dries out considerably more due to the soil type that it is built on and we hope to have it caught back up over the next week and a half. The repairs to Sun City Blvd. should be complete in the next week and the road re-opened for its regular traffic routing. 

Non-potable Water line break

We have a major non-potable line break under Sun City Blvd. by WW hole #1.  We are in search of a contractor for repairs and are working with the city on re-directing traffic during the repair and possibly before as the road has a hump in it where the water break has pushed the asphalt up.  This will be hurting our ability to water WW & CC as well as some common areas, so we need to get this done asap. This is not going to be a cheap repair and as more information becomes available, we will let all know.  Once repairs begin or we begin redirecting of traffic, we will get the word out to the community to be cautious and careful in this area. 
We have gone into water conservation mode and are currently only watering greens and tees until the non-potable line is repaired. Unfortunately this will require us to go CART PATH ONLY until we can make the necessary repairs. We hope to have Legacy Hills isolated soon, if so it will return to 90 degree. White Wing and Cowan Creek will remain CART PATH ONLY until our water supply is repaired.

The new tee box on #5 at White Wing is now open!

The new tee box is now open and should provide a new challenge to this hole! 

WW Driving Range Update

Although you may not see constant work throughout the day on the range we are making good progress. We are currently removing dead trees and leveling pot holes on the range. We should have sod in next week and a tree service will be here to grind stumps. Once that is complete I will have new photos to post for before and after pictures.

White Wing Fountains

In case you haven't noticed while playing White Wing lately, the fountains located on the pond right of #9 tee have not been running. 

We had a repairman on site today to swap out what we thought were some bad electronics on the fountain controllers. 

Good new was that he discovered that the panels are ok. 
Bad news is they still are not working and we have to pull the fountains in and see if they are seized up or have sucked up a turtle or two. We plan to do this early next week and will update again after that is completed. 

Fore The Golfer: TV Golf vs. Daily Play

Upcoming Driving Range Closures

Driving Range Closures

In order to renovate our driving range landing areas at White Wing and Cowan Creek we will be closing the ranges later this summer. We will only close one of them at a time for a one month period each. This schedule allows us to keep two of the three ranges open, and will still allow for plenty of practice area during the closures.

The reason this needs to be done is for both aesthetics and the longevity of the equipment used to pick the range. The large ruts that have worn out over the past years cause a lot of wear and tear on the range picker, which in turn cost us in equipment repairs.

The closure dates will be:

White Wing Driving Range: June 29^th – July 31^st

Cowan Creek Driving Range: August 3^rd – Sept. 4^th  

Rain, rain, rain and more rain!

With over 5" last week and another 4" last night the golf courses have had enough. 

Cowan Creek Fairway Mowers

Cowan Creek Golf Maintenance is looking for three residents that would like to work part-time mowing fairways and rough in the mornings (2-3 days a week).  If interested, please contact Craig Loving @ craig.loving@sctexas.org

Montgomery High School Card

We received this thank you card from Montgomery High School today! Sun City Texas should be very proud of the job well done not only by the staff but the entire community!

 

USGA Aerification Video

It's that time of year again! You can click on the link below and watch a USGA video on greens aerification and why we have to do it. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=863Ix8czcoY&list=PLnU5qUEfww3cOAU8iTQTUpF5S4UqhXJka&sns=em

New View from #5 Tee box at White Wing

Here is the new view from the tee box that was rebuilt on the #5 hole at White Wing. A llittle more tree trimming further down the hole on the right side will provide more visibility from the tee and we plan to do this before the tee is open for play in the next 3-4 weeks. This should be a great addition to the hole and provide a "new" feel when playing the hole from that side. Thank you for your patience during this construction period and please remember that the blue and green tees are placed forward of the left tee for use during the establishment of these new tee boxes. 

White Wing Greens Update

The greens at White Wing are doing much better this year and are growing very well for this time of year. Although we have not reached our combined temperatures of 150, which is optimal growing temps for Bermuda grass, we are still seeing some pretty good growth with the temps we have had lately. This past week we topdressed the greens pretty heavy, which slowed them down a bit and we even heard rumblings that the greens were taking a step back or deteriorating again. This is not the case. They are a little slower and not as smooth as the other two courses right now but we have been a little more cautious (to say the least) with our rolling and mowing heights at WW after what we went through last year. All this being said, the health of the greens at WW looks to be at a point now where we can start lowering the cutting heights, rolling more often and getting  White Wing to the same consistency as the other two courses. Next week the USGA will be on property and we will be spending the day at White Wing and discussing our agricultural plan moving forward. 

White Wing #5 tee box update

Rough grade on the #5 tee box at White Wing has been completed. The contractor will be fine grading this week with plans to sod the left tee with 419 Bermuda grass by the end of the week. The right tee will be complete next week and the zoysia grass will come in shortly after that. 

White Wing #5 Tee Construction

We have started the tee construction project on #5 tee at WW and hope to have demolition complete this week. This project will add an additional 600sqft to the blue/green tee on the left and combine the two tees on the right into one large tee that will be able to be played by both the green and blue tee users. 

2015 March Course Conditions

Things are finally starting to green up and it looks as if we are going to have a much better spring this year than we did the last (To say the least). We are going to leave the greens covers out another two weeks to be on the safe side in case we get one more shot of cold winter weather. The main thing is that we continue to keep an eye on the greens moisture as we have done all winter until we get into the optimum Bermuda grass growing temperatures.

USGA Site Visit

We have a tentative visit scheduled for the week of April 13^th. Besides looking at overall turf quality we will be asking them to evaluate a number of green complexes that have a considerable amount of shade issues and make recommendations based on their findings.

Playability 2015

We look to schedule the playability tours of each course sometime in April.

Legacy Hills Greenside Bunkers

The greenside bunker renovation is complete and the bunkers are back in play as of last week.

Cowan Creek Greenside Bunker Renovation

The Cowan bunker project has been a bit slower than expected due to the bad weather in February but should still be complete in the next two to three weeks. This time frame includes the time to install the new sod edges around each bunker.

Soil Testing

March disease samples were sent to the lab on 3/10/15 and the results for all three courses came back clean of fungus. That being said, two days later we had a Pythium Blight outbreak on a couple of greens at Legacy Hills, mainly #14. (We sent in an additional sample) We sprayed a fungicide for the disease the next day and within a day the symptoms went away.    

Audubon Certification

In the upcoming months we plan on establishing a support group including all the active participants in the certification process, as well as committee members from wildlife groups in Sun City.   

GCSAA Certification

Attended 2 GCSAA webinars:

Calibrating Sprayers and selecting the right nozzles

Planning for more dry days / what can we learn from last year? 

Moisture Monitoring

Here is a week’s worth of moisture monitoring from White Wing.

Date:	3/9/2015		Soil	Date:	3/10/2015		Soil	Date:	3/11/2015		Soil
Hole	High Area	Low Area	Temp	Hole	High Area	Low Area	Temp	Hole	High Area	Low Area	Temp
#1				#1	27.7%	21.8%		#1	24.3%	19.8%
#2				#2	29.2%	25.7%		#2	25.7%	20.3%
#3				#3	18.4%	27.7%		#3	15.9%	27.7%
#4				#4	21.8%	27.2%		#4	17.4%	18.9%
#5				#5	14.9%	26.7%		#5	14.4%	24.3%
#6				#6	24.7%	29.2%		#6	26.2%	28.2%
#7				#7	26.7%	19.3%		#7	27.7%	19.8%
#8				#8	20.3%	20.8%		#8	18.4%	19.8%
#9	RAINING			#9	20.8%	25.2%		#9	19.8%	26.2%
#10				#10	28.2%	30.6%		#10	31.1%	30.1%	53.6
#11				#11	29.7%	28.2%		#11	21.3%	28.7%
#12				#12	23.8%	21.8%		#12	20.8%	26.2%
#13				#13	18.9%	32.1%		#13	18.9%	33.1%
#14				#14	20.3%	28.7%		#14	29.2%	32.6%
#15				#15	28.2%	29.2%		#15	26.2%	32.6%
#16				#16	27.2%	20.3%		#16	27.7%	25.7%
#17				#17	27.7%	29.7%		#17	29.7%	34.1%
#18				#18	19.3%	23.3%		#18	24.3%	29.7%
PG				PG	23.8%	18.4%		PG	27.7%	17.4%
CG				CG	22.8%	21.8%		CG	28.7%	23.8%