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March 2, 2010
To my fellow avid golfers:
I think it is safe to say we at LaCantera are all ready for winter to be behind us. With the coming of spring it is time to start thinking about our Bermudagrass coming out of dormancy as we have begun our pre-emergent weed applications on both golf courses with a follow up application to be made around the 1st week of April as pre-emergent weed control is our best defense against weeds. It proves to be cost effective, we use fewer chemicals on the course, and the overall aesthetics of the course improve. As a note for the homeowners in South Texas, a good rule of thumb for your lawns is to make an application around Valentine’s Day and again around April 1st. We have seen this program help us reduce the weed pressure on the golf course. We’re seeing the Bermudagrass on the fairways show signs of green-up with some of the warmer days the last few weeks, but unfortunately the temperatures continued to fall into the low 30’s putting the plant back into dormancy. However, I believe with a little help from Mother Nature we should begin to see dramatic changes in our dormant fairways in the upcoming weeks. We have begun a process of light vertical cutting on the fairways which removes excess clippings and organic buildup in the top canopy layer left behind from the mowing we did this winter. We feel these preparation techniques will enable the new plants to have the best conditions possible to come out of dormancy. Fear not fellow golfers, we also know that this will create an even better playing surface in the fairways come spring. It will even out and improve the lie for your golf ball, making birdies and pars easier to achieve.
In short we are excited to see the course come back to life. The water restrictions last fall made it unreasonable to overseed the fairways, and we are all excited to see plush, green fairways again.
I would also like to give you a quick update on our Audubon Certification. We are pleased to announce our certification completion in Wildlife Habitat and Water Conservation. We will be working with the First Tee of San Antonio on March 6 as we have scheduled a program that will assist kids in building birdhouses and learn how golf course can improve the environment and community. I am pleased to say that we will be donating the houses to the First Tee facility. We hope the kids will enjoy watching their efforts improve the bird habitat in an already beautiful setting. With the completion of working with the kids we will be able to submit our final category, Education and Outreach. We plan to be fully Certified by May of this year.
Enjoy the Nature of the Game,
Jeff Kadlec
Director of Agronomy, La Cantera Golf Club
(210) 558-3091
January 29, 2010
It is with great pleasure I am writing this article for La Cantera Golf Club and its website. The goal of Agronomy Corner is to provide you with information about the golf course and projects we are working on. I hope you find this both enjoyable and educational as you’ll gain a true perspective from an agronomist’s point-of-view.
I am proud to say that La Cantera Golf Club is currently pursuing certification with the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program (ACSP) which is an education certification program that helps organizations and businesses protect our environment. To complete certification, we must develop and implement an environmental plan and document its results. This process focuses on five key areas:
La Cantera has obtained certification in Environmental Planning and have submitted our efforts in Wildlife and Habitat Mgmt and Water Conservation for review. We currently are in the middle of completing the final two categories. The process of completing our ACSP certification was easier thanks to the daily practices La Cantera has followed in the past. The team has truly done a wonderful job, however, there is always room to grow and improve.
I would encourage you to visit their website at http://www.auduboninternational.org/. This is a great organization that you can use to implement positive environmental practices at your home through a program called the Audubon International’s Treasuring Home Initiative. This is a pledge you can make to the environment and the community at home and I will be more than happy to assist anyone with an interest in pursuing this further.
I look forward to sharing information with you regarding the conditions and projects of both The Palmer Course and Resort Course at La Cantera.
Enjoy the Nature of the Game,
Jeff Kadlec
Director of Agronomy, La Cantera Golf Club
(210) 558-3091
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