Traditions fairway update?

20,848 Views | 108 Replies | Last: 11 days ago by DargelSkout
terradactylexpress
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It's called an example dude
KaneIsAble
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AG
Ok - I'll accept the boards response I overreacted.
Leander - Ag
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KaneIsAble said:

aggietony2010 said:

I'm pretty sure they've arranged some sort of privileges at Pebble Creek.


And a course in Waco if I remember correctly; that was very strange to read.

Buddies of mine at Pebble have a hard time getting tee times so I've never even tried yet.
Ridgewood in Waco. Nice track that just completed a full renovation in a little under a year.

Is the Par 3 course even open yet?
mosesrab90
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Email came out today that "3 tee" course on front 9 opens this weekend. No clue what course condition is.
Leander - Ag
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Thanks - just read that
KaneIsAble
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Played last week a couple of loops on the 3 Tee course. Shots from 88 to 150 and no one was out there so we had a blast with the course basically to ourselves. One of the college kids working said the back 9 should be open in a couple of weeks too.

I'd say fairways are 75% grown in. #8 was terrible though and they have some work to do but the same kid said they were about to tackle that. Greens are in great shape (one spot on #1 that was delating).
localag88
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So any update? I haven't had time to get out since they opened up some more holes.

Wife wanted to tour a house for sale on the 18th fairway (that I ain't never gonna buy), but nice view from up there...grass looked good from a distance...any reports?
The problem with people that don't get it is they don't get that they don't get it.
dcrewint
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Played the Cavalry fundraiser today. There is sod laid down everywhere. I know nothing about what's best for planting/growing/laying down sod. However, it's sad to see. If I were to guess....the full course might be ready in the spring? It kinda looks like legos on top of the ground, different levels of sod here and there.
jja79
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What are the golf teams doing?
Trinity Ag
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jja79 said:

What are the golf teams doing?
I heard playing at Miramont
Leander - Ag
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dcrewint said:

Played the Cavalry fundraiser today. There is sod laid down everywhere. I know nothing about what's best for planting/growing/laying down sod. However, it's sad to see. If I were to guess....the full course might be ready in the spring? It kinda looks like legos on top of the ground, different levels of sod here and there.


Yikes. Is it worth playing right now?
dcrewint
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Not at all
Traditions18
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Saw some of them playing out there this past Friday, but mainly Miramont
EliteElectric
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I played in the fun for all tourney a few weeks ago and the fairways looked not too good, as stated there was sod everywhere. If that is anywhere near final look the members will not be happy.

It was par 3 only and the longest par 3 was like 140
www.elitellp.net/

Field staff 02
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Cour:se is looking good and sounds like all 18 is going to be open.

Question, what are the issues with the sod? I guess I don't understand why that is a worry that I have seen posted about many times. Is the concern how the sod is laid? I would think that would be seen as a good thing not a pressing concern.

jja79
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Isn't the issue that the course wasn't built on a sand cap? If that's the right terminology.
MarkPro
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Played out there today. All 18 holes are open. The golf course is very playable, but very wet. It is going to be cart path only for a long time.

For those commenters who are not members, but have a lot to say about the conditions, kindly keep them to yourselves. The club and ownership have done all they can to get the course up to the condition that members deserve. We have been very patient, and of course frustrated, but headed in the right direction. Was there mistakes made at the outset of the project? Of course, but Tanner and his crew adapted and worked their rear ends off. If you are/were lucky enough to be a guest at Traditions, hopefully you noticed how great our tee boxes are. The grass on those tees was replaced last year, and it is a great playing surface. After a good growing season, the fairways will be just as good.

Never argue with stupid people, they will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience.

Mark Twain
localag88
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Well said Mark.
The problem with people that don't get it is they don't get that they don't get it.
dcrewint
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Sorry, I missed the memo where it said, "members only respond". While guests don't know all that's going on, they are giving an honest response to what they experienced and that's important. Members might do that at times, but they're going to give you insight while "defending" their course. Bottom line, would you invite a non-member to the course and tell them they were paying $150 with the condition the course was in 12/9/24? Because I wouldn't have. If I'm going on vacation and planning to get rounds of golf in I call the clubhouse and make sure they aren't aerated anytime prior to my trip. Although it might be "playable" I know that I'm probably not going to enjoy bumpy greens.

If it was "playable" at the time I played then we wouldn't have played the par 3 course, we would have played the full course. To answer the question about what the "sod" looked like; Imagine you're on a typical course with flat fairways but then you had a block of grass that was raised 3-6 inches. That ball is most likely coming to an abrupt stop.

Cart path only is definitely the right move when it is opened and I expect they would keep it that way for a good while. I love the course, it's my favorite course in BCS. I have no doubt that Tanner will have the course back to it's former glory. It just wasn't there yet.
DonHenley
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Cope harder. The fairway project was an embarrassment for all involved.
Single Malt
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Here is some perspective on the fairway project. This has been a very ambitious project from the beginning. The new grass is paspalum, which is well-known for its salt tolerance. The water supply for irrigating the course is heavy in sodium, and it creates lots of problems for the bermudagrass. Paspalum was the optimum choice for the long term, and if successfully planted and maintained, it will result in really good playing surfaces that will withstand the salty water supply and the extreme heat of the summer. The project got off to a slow start due primarily to contractor error. This error caused a couple of months of delays. The re-surfacing of fairways on a golf course typically takes a year. Some golf clubs going through this type of project would close the course for a year, and assess members $25K each. Such a plan would be impractical for numerous reasons. Members would have been very disappointed to lose a year of golf, and the club would not be generating any revenue other than dues. Therefore, the choice was made to open the Par-3 course, and to open the big course when it could be played without setting back the overall progress of the fairways project.

Admittedly, the course is not currently in the condition that members want, but in practical terms the project is only in about month 6 of what should be a 12-month project. My advice to those who are interested is to stay patient and reserve judgment until late Spring of 2025.
grego
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Single Malt said:

Here is some perspective on the fairway project. This has been a very ambitious project from the beginning. The new grass is paspalum, which is well-known for its salt tolerance. The water supply for irrigating the course is heavy in sodium, and it creates lots of problems for the bermudagrass. Paspalum was the optimum choice for the long term, and if successfully planted and maintained, it will result in really good playing surfaces that will withstand the salty water supply and the extreme heat of the summer. The project got off to a slow start due primarily to contractor error. This error caused a couple of months of delays. The re-surfacing of fairways on a golf course typically takes a year. Some golf clubs going through this type of project would close the course for a year, and assess members $25K each. Such a plan would be impractical for numerous reasons. Members would have been very disappointed to lose a year of golf, and the club would not be generating any revenue other than dues. Therefore, the choice was made to open the Par-3 course, and to open the big course when it could be played without setting back the overall progress of the fairways project.

Admittedly, the course is not currently in the condition that members want, but in practical terms the project is only in about month 6 of what should be a 12-month project. My advice to those who are interested is to stay patient and reserve judgment until late Spring of 2025.
Asking out of ignorance - do the other courses in the area irrigate with the same high sodium water?
Thisguy1
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They do. Pebble Creek just redid their greens and I believe tees as well with the same grass. I believe dcrew is a member out there based on their posts unless I'm thinking of someone else.

I work in turf. This area is awful for growing grass. The water sucks, the soil sucks and our PH is stupid high. My lawn looked the best it's ever looked this summer thanks to all of the rains we got.
dcrewint
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Thisguy1 is right I am a member at Pebble and yes the area's sodium content is very high. The only reason I know that is due to our greenskeeper(Jeff). Throughout the process of reconfiguring our greens and tee boxes with the paspalum (and every Monday in his emails to members) he's informed us about that and other things. It's a great grass for harsh conditions and I would say Pebble's greens have never been this nice since I've been here (6 or 7 years).
19AG84
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dcrewint said:

Sorry, I missed the memo where it said, "members only respond". While guests don't know all that's going on, they are giving an honest response to what they experienced and that's important. Members might do that at times, but they're going to give you insight while "defending" their course. Bottom line, would you invite a non-member to the course and tell them they were paying $150 with the condition the course was in 12/9/24? Because I wouldn't have. If I'm going on vacation and planning to get rounds of golf in I call the clubhouse and make sure they aren't aerated anytime prior to my trip. Although it might be "playable" I know that I'm probably not going to enjoy bumpy greens.

If it was "playable" at the time I played then we wouldn't have played the par 3 course, we would have played the full course. To answer the question about what the "sod" looked like; Imagine you're on a typical course with flat fairways but then you had a block of grass that was raised 3-6 inches. That ball is most likely coming to an abrupt stop.

Cart path only is definitely the right move when it is opened and I expect they would keep it that way for a good while. I love the course, it's my favorite course in BCS. I have no doubt that Tanner will have the course back to it's former glory. It just wasn't there yet.
I am a member at Traditions and live on the course I played Traditions this morning. The fairways were really good. The above referenced sod has been rolled into place. The members, for the most part, appreciate the owners commitment to excellence. During the process, I had the opportunity to tour the renovation with the General Manager of the club. We ran into one of the owners. The owner asked me what I thought. I said I thought the course would be good in the Spring of 2025. I also said the course would be one of the best in Texas in the Spring of 2026. The Paspalum will take time to mature. But when it does....it will be awesome.
Thisguy1
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What did they end up doing as far as closing the course, discounted rates, etc?

It's been a while since I played Pebble (definitely pre-paspalum) but I couldn't tell you the last time I could hit into 9 green. I don't remember discounted rates though.
KaneIsAble
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No discounts - the owners took a bath over the summer so it didn't bother me at all.

Course was closed for 4 months (ish) and then they opened the front 9 par 3 tees.
dcrewint
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During the green renovation they redid 1-6 and everything was open until they moved from 7-(12?) and then they finished it. Started March 1st, course opened June 21st? They didn't discount anything as far as I know. They had courses available for us to call for reciprocal rounds - some of which we paid cart fees(Longwood, A&M, Brenham, etc...). For awhile they had temp greens which some of us would use as driver/iron practice, or we'd double up on the back nine until they moved onto green 10. They slowly added paspalum to the tee boxes as well.
Traditions18
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I agree - course really isn't bad all things considered. Greens and tee boxes are great. Fairways look better by the day.
DannyDuberstein
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What did the contractor F up?
grego
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Does Miramont not have issues with the water ?
Trinity Ag
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DannyDuberstein said:

What did the contractor F up?
The simplest explanation: the plan was to sprig the fairways -- and it wasn't done properly.

So instead of having grass growing in July, they had to go back in and sod the bulk of the course in August - a process that lasted through October.

So they effectively lost about 2-3 months of the growing season on a significant part of the course.

That may not be exactly correct -- but is the general gist of it.

Leander - Ag
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grego said:

Does Miramont not have issues with the water ?


This is what I don't get. How does it stay in such great shape ?
Thisguy1
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They dump gypsum on it, which other courses do as well I'm sure.

Talked with a member there who seems to be high up. He talked like it'll get ripped up and replaced with zoysia at some point, but not sure how much of that was wishful thinking vs projecting.
GE
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Out of curiosity, what's a Traditions out of town membership going for these days?
 
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