Wednesday, July 23, 1997

Fairway grass being sprigged this week

By AL PICKETT / Abilene Reporter-News

HAWLEY - Mark and Gayle Bailey have been waiting a long time for this week.

The Haskell couple has been working nearly 20 months, clearing land and preparing for the construction of Tangle Oaks Golf Club, this area's newest golf course.

But Monday a crew began sprigging the fairways.

"It's 419 dwarf Tiff bermuda," said Mark. "They bring it in in bushels, and it's plowed into the ground. They put down 400 bushels to the acre. It takes a couple of weeks to take hold. They say in eight or nine weeks, you can be on it. We'll have a mower out on it in four to five weeks. We've just got to keep it wet."

Too much water put construction behind schedule earlier this summer at Tangle Oaks. More than eight inches of rain last month caused uncovered irrigation pipe to float out of its trenches and delayed the planting of grass by almost two months.

"It's a big step to get to this point," Gayle said. "We've got sand, we've got trees and we've got underground water."

And Tangle Oaks will soon have grass. Sprigging will hopefully be completed today.

Much of the 180 acres the Baileys purchased for the golf course was shinnery, hence the name Tangle Oaks for the course. The soil is extremely sandy, and all of the fairways except No. 1 are tree-lined.

Just the front nine is being built now. Bailey said it will probably be a couple of years he tackles the back nine.

The clubhouse has already been built, and the greens are now being seeded.

"The greens are SR1020 bent grass," Bailey said. "We have four planted so far, which are seeded and tarped. We hope to get the others done this week."

Bailey said the rock under each green is the only non-native material used on the course. The live oak trees and native drift sand - along with undergound water which is tapped by one well - made for a perfect natural setting for the golf course.

Although this year's wet weather put the course behind schedule, Bailey has hopes of possibly opening his new course for play by the end of September.

Tangle Oaks Golf Course

-- Where: Six miles northeast of Hawley of Farm-to-Market Road 1226. Turn east on County Road 352.

-- Par: 36

-- Yardage: 3,221 yards

-- Projected opening date: Late September

-- Telephone: (915) 537-9023

Course description

1 - A 466-yard double dogleg par-5. It's a relatively short par-5 but has mounds and bunkers on the right to catch the person trying to get home in two.

2 - A 290-yard par-4 with a slight dogleg left. Tree surround the green.

3 - A 205-yard par-3 with a three-level green which is guarded by a huge waste bunker in front and on the right side.

4 - A 510-yard par-5. This hole sets up with a blind tee shot. To reach it in two, golfers must carry their drives to the crest of the hill, approximately 250 yards from the back tee, leaving another 250 yards to an elevated clover-shaped green guarded by a bunker on the left.

5 - A 440-yard par-4. An extra grove of trees guards the left side of the fairway.

6 - A 390-yard par-4 with a dogleg left. Three large mounds guard the left side of the fairway with a hunge waste bunker on the right.

7 - A 185-yard par-3. From an elevated tee, it goes downhill to an inverted L-shaped green protected by a large oak tree on the front left.

8 - A 385-yard par-4 with a severe dogleg left. There are mounds on each side of the fairway, however. A cluster of oak tree surround the green.

9 - A 390-yard par-4 which plays into the south wind. A mid-iron shot across water to a narrow green lined with cross ties is required on the second shot.