By Mark Semm
It seems just yesterday school was letting out and summer vacations began. In the blink of an eye, summer is winding down and so is another summer season on the golf course. It’s a good time to look back to reflect on what the staff accomplished and what we are gearing up for.
Summer is always a busy time of year throughout the course with regular maintenance. Countless man hours of mowing, trimming, edging and keeping greens thriving is the norm. Mother Nature continues to have us on our toes from last year’s floods to this year’s drought (although we did just receive 1.50 inches just a few days ago as I write).
Over the past few years we’ve completed several capital projects on the golf course, and 2017 was no different. We sodded approximately 36,000-square-feet of Bermuda rough, replaced 8,000-square-feet of contaminated zoysia throughout #15 fairway, sodded 24,000-square-feet of zoysia throughout the range floor, and built an 8,000-square-foot zoysia nursery behind the shop. The developer continues to reinvest capital not only on the course but throughout The Club as well.
Our focus now shifts to the fall golf season and tournaments. Hopefully we’ve had a few crisp mornings on the course as you are reading this, even though September can still be brutal in Texas. As the shorter days and cooler nights return we will begin pushing the bentgrass greens in preparation for fall tournaments. More rolling, brushing, brooming and topdressing as the weather allows will help speed and firm them up heading into the fall.
I cannot thank our entire staff enough for the blood, sweat and sometimes tears getting through another summer. We all look forward to the fall and the shift in maintenance focus it brings for the fall golf season!
Mark Semm is the Director of Agronomy at The Clubs of Cordillera Ranch. He can be reached at msemm@cordilleraranch.com or 830.336.9186.
