Innovative Rehabilitation of Texas Golf Course Earns High Scores for Beauty and Erosion Control
As seen in 'Land and Water Magazine'
By Colleen Lyman
The seven-year-old Houston National golf complex, located in the fast-growing Cypress - Fairbanks area of Harris County, Texas, is home to 27 holes of championship golf, a 20,000-square-foot clubhouse that is under construction and upscale homes. Residents are understandably proud of their golf course's beauty and charm. The golf complex is located entirely within the Stonegate subdivision and Remington Municipal Utility District No. 1.
Winding throughout the course's fairways is a mile-long water channel that not only adds visually to the course, but acts as an important drainage ditch (HCFC Unit 106-13-01) within the Harris County Flood Control District's system of drainage ways. The drainage ditch is owned by Remington and its purpose is to control rainwater runoff and flooding in the vicinity.
Over time, the course' fairway mounds and bank soil had significantly eroded into this main waterway. The silt and voluntary growth and debris were impeding water flow, and consequently, interfering with subdivision and golf course drainage In addition, the channel was no longer the eye-catching focal point of the course that it once was.
The course management company and Remington both realized that a major rehabilitation of the channel was needed. In addition, the five acres of fairway mounds and gently sloping banks around the channels required soil stabilization. Together, they hoped to not only restore the channel's full water flow and enhance its natural beauty, but to alleviate future rehabilitations.
"We all knew that implementing erosion control would be an involved, delicate task," said Spencer Clements, president of William Cole, Inc., the golf course's management company. "We realized that we needed to form a knowledgeable, experienced team to execute this project. Stabilization of the channel was important not only to the course residents, but to the citizens of the county as well."
Because the drainage ditch is maintained by Remington, the project became a joint effort between the Houston National Golf Course and the utility district. Remington is a quasi-governmental entity formed by the state legislature and governed by a board of directors who are landowners. The golf course and Remington split the costs of the project equally. The first step for course management was to hire an engineer to oversee the project. The numerous specific design requirements can be complex and confusing. An experienced engineering company was needed to not only prepare the drawings and specifications for the repairs, but to ensure that all aspects of the project were in compliance with Harris County requirements.
The golf course retained Sander Engineering Corporation, the engineer for Remington Municipal Utility District No. 1, to oversee the project. Sander would act in a quasi-governmental capacity for both the golf course and Remington, as well as make recommendations for contractors and sub-contractors to complete the work.
"After reviewing input from the district and the golf course, we prepared drawings and specifications for the repairs," said Dennis Sander, president of Sander Engineering Corporation. "We had to ensure that the construction complied with all requirements and passed final approval."
Working together, the engineer and golf course decided to drain the 150-ft.-wide channel, clear the rocks and debris, and establish new turf on the gently sloping mounds that bank the channel and dot the fairways. The channel is 150-ft. wide and more than a mile long, so it is the eye-catching focal point of the course, said Clements. "Since residents' homes surround the course, they want the fairways in their back yards to look perfect."
After receiving bids for the rehabilitation, the team hired a dirt contractor, Rebel Dozer Service & Construction, Spring, Texas, to repair the slopes that had eroded. They "rough" graded and prepared the soil in the areas of the course where it was needed. Rebel also opened the smaller and main channels by removing obstacles such as rock dams, silt and debris from the bottom
Next, Champions Hydro Lawn, Inc., Houston, Texas, was brought in to plant grass on the slopes and channel banks. With more than 30 years of turf establishment experience, the team felt confident that Champions would plant lush looking grass that controlled future erosion.
The slopes and banks of the course had been originally seeded with Weeping Love Grass which was not holding up very well. It was growing sparsely in many places and had eroded away in others.
Champions suggested replacing the Weeping Love Grass with a stronger strain of grass that would better withstand erosion. "We recommended Bermuda grass because it better resists drought and disease and forms a root system matrix above and below the ground. Also, Bermuda grass would withstand weather conditions better on the irregularly shaped slopes,” said Lou Triche, president and owner of Champions. "The big concern was to find solutions to protect against future erosion, and this type of grass was an excellent preventive step."
Seeding the Bermuda grass was going to be tricky. The fairway slopes and channel banks varied from 20 percent to 35 percent from horizontal. These irregular slopes create some difficulty in seeding the grass evenly. Consistent growth is critical to controlling erosion and creating a uniform, blanket look.
Fortunately, Champions recommended applying a product that would help ensure uniform seed growth. The environmentally safe USG's ENVIRO-SHIELD® Bonded Fiber Matrix, not only helps stabilize the soil after seeding, but the calcium sulfate nutrients also add to the nutrition of the soil.
The product's matrix contains gypsum as part of its fiber, which is a strong soil amendment. When applied in slurry form, the matrix creates a breathable, built-in place protective blanket to hold seeds in place. Although the seeds cannot move, water can permeate the shield to germinate them. The result is a uniform turf that not only looks lush, but prevents future erosion.
Champions disked and raked the repair areas to form a smooth receptive surface, applied about 100 pounds of Bermuda seed per acre and 500# of fertilizer per acre over approximately 20 acres and then cultipacted (a big roller with spikes). After, completing this, the ENVIRO-SHIELD matrix was sprayed at a rate of approximately 4,000 pounds of product per acre using a Finn 3,000-gallon-capacity hydromulcher machine.
This machine has a hand-held hose so that the product can be applied from a distance and still be effective. The truck didn't need to access sensitive areas of the course or the adjacent grounds surrounding the grounds. The bonded fiber matrix is designed to hold the slopes in place until seed germination.
The timing of the work was of prime importance because golfers were often playing on the course and some tournaments were scheduled during the construction period. In addition, because residences line the course, children played in their yards during the afternoon hours. Members of the golf course and adjacent residents were pleased that the ENVIRO-SHIELD product is environmentally safe and that its hand-held sprayer application didn't interfere with their families' lifestyles. They especially appreciated that the seeding project was completed in a little more than a month.
"Everyone was very excited with the results. Within two to four weeks of seeding, the mounds on the fairways were covered in an even, thick turf that looked great, and the project passed all district requirements with flying colors," said Sander. "Best of all, we ensured that we shouldn't have to go through this again any time soon because the grass will withstand most weather conditions we may encounter and provide better erosion control."
