Got the water towered centered just right too!

The Driving Range opening is scheduled for this Friday, September 14th.  We have also scheduled a short ribbon cutting ceremony with board of advisers and golf committee members hitting the first shot on Thursday evening (September 13th) at 5:30.  Join us for complimentary keg beer during this time and bring your clubs as well as we will remain open on the range to all golf members until 7pm Thursday once first shot has been hit.  The Golf Course Maintenance staff is appreciative of everyone's patience during the entire construction and grow-in time that enabled us to deliver a first class practice facility.

We are currently enlarging the blue / copper and white tee boxes on the 8th hole of the Whitworth Golf Course.  These tees were severely crowned from being undersized for an iron-shot hole that par three's typically are.  The plan is to finish work this coming weekend and sod the area first part of next week.

Most of the construction to the practice facility is now complete and we are growing in the sod and newly sprigged areas.  What you can expect is two more weeks of heavy watering followed with an aggressive fertility plan to grow in these areas as quickly as possible.   

Both new chipping greens are officially being grown-in.  These greens were sprigged on Tuesday, June 26th with tifeagle bermuda grass.  The following pictures show bags that the sprigs were brought in, the actual hand sprigging, what these sprigs look like on a green afterwards, cutting the sprigs into the rootzone and the first irrigation to them.  Typically these sprigs will green up after watering, then go backwards and take on a brown tint the first several days.  However once leaf tissue forms, we will then begin the process of pushing them with nitrogen to grow these greens in as fast as possible.

The first grass is now growing at the new chipping green area.  On Friday we installed sod around the two new chipping greens.  It won't be long until first mowing to this area.

First off - The Golf Course Maintenance Staff wants to wish all participants in the Ladies Member / Guest the best of luck and nothing but “fairways and greens” during play. 

As we head into our summer months, everyone needs to be aware that protection from the sun’s intensity is extremely critical.  Several years ago I learned this the hard way on a routine check up at my doctor.  I don’t think I will ever forget when my doctor said “uh oh” on a follow up to a biopsy taken from my forehead.  All those years I spent working out in the sun and never did it occur to me that I was at risk, since I hardly ever got sunburned.  It turned out that I was very lucky as things were caught at an early stage.  Still, the fact of the matter is that skin cancer does not discriminate and we all must take measures to protect ourselves.

There are several types of skin cancer.  Basal cell carcinoma followed by squamous cell carcinoma are types referred to as non-melanoma.  Ninety percent of all skin cancers are basal cell carcinoma.  This type grows slowly and rarely spreads to other areas.  It is typically found on the head, face, neck, hands and arms but can occur anywhere.  The main cause of non-melanoma skin cancer is ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun or artificial sources such as sunlamps or tanning beds.

Melanoma, which is less common but more deadly, is more likely to spread throughout the body.  This is a disease of pigment cells and typically occurs in the skin.  Melanoma also occurs in the eyes, digestive tract, lymph nodes or other areas where there are melanocytes.  It is one of the most commonly occurring invasive cancers affecting people of all ages and rates are increasing.

The primary way to prevent skin cancer is by reducing exposure to UV radiation.  There are several ways to do this but two that work best are wearing protective clothing such as long sleeves and hats in addition to remembering to use sunscreens.  In fact it has been proven through scientific research that daily sunscreen use is effective in protecting people from DNA damage in the skin due to UV exposure.  Clinical evidence suggests it is better to use sunscreens with both UVA and UVB protection then those with UVB alone.  UVB rays are more likely than UVA rays to cause sunburn, but UVA rays pass more deeply into the skin. 

So now that summer is upon us I would like to remind everyone to protect themselves from the sun’s intensity that a normal Texas day offers.  Drink plenty of water so you do not become dehydrated and ALWAYS remember to apply sunscreen several times to areas exposed directly to the sun’s rays.  Trust me, no one ever wants to hear the dreaded “uh oh” words.

Tim Dagg, Golf Course Superintendent.