83 damage, the club will invest in a new reverse osmosis irrigation system. Addington, Wise and WinStar’s head golf pro visited some of the region’s top-rated golf courses grassed with bermuda. “We talked with the superintendents about maintenance and the quality of the playing surfaces,” says Addington. One of the courses they visited was Brook Hollow in Dallas, which was grassed with Tahoma 31 everywhere except greens during a 2021 renovation by Keith Foster. “Once everyone saw the Tahoma 31, it became an easy choice because of the quality of the playing surface,” says Addington. Wise recalls having a similar reaction. “Once you play on it, the grass speaks for itself. The ball sits up better and gives you a lot better lies.” The Redbud course is targeted at casual, resort golfers looking for a fun bit of entertainment in between visits to the casino, while the Scissortail course is aimed at serious golfers looking for a championship-level round of golf. “The grass does stay greener longer and greens up early; for a resort that was important,” says Addington. “We didn’t want to overseed, and to be able to say high-end clubs are choosing this grass too was also an influence in the selection.” Because the soil remediation work was so intensive in time, effort and monetary investment, the agronomy team decided to sod the course instead of sprig it. That decision meant that grass could go down in the short window of summer and early autumn, and still be on track for a summer 2026 opening. Brad Sherry, CEO and thirdgeneration owner of the Sod By Sherry farm, met every two weeks with the WinStar team to plan logistics. In total, Sherry sent 487 truckloads for a total of 112 acres of sod to WinStar with Sherry’s crew running three harvesters to produce 20 truckloads of fresh-cut sod per day. “Trucks would haul overnight and be onsite at the crack of dawn to be unloaded and installed by noon the next day,” he says. Sod for the fairways and tees was harvested from fields with a 63 per cent sand base. WinStar’s short-game practice area and driving range tee were planted from a two-acre field specifically capped with Sherry’s 90 per cent USGA sand mix to encourage faster regrowth in divot-prone areas. Sod was delivered at a height of cut of 1.5 centimetres. “It rooted very quickly,” says Greg Smith, construction superintendent at Fleetwood Services. The Redbud course is slated to open at the end of May over Memorial Day weekend. The Scissortail course should open by mid-July. “What we did in about eight months typically takes people about two-anda-half years,” says Wise. “Renovating 36 holes, irrigation, sodding, chisel ploughing, tearing up the fairways, adding six inches of sand to tees, two inches for fairways... to get all that done and to be open within a year, I think that’s remarkable.” Photo: WinStar World “ Once everyone saw the Tahoma 31, it became an easy choice because of the quality of the playing surface” WinStar’s Redbud course will reopen over the Memorial Day weekend this year REPORT
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