Upswing in rounds at Cordillera Ranch Golf Club

Cordillera Ranch Golf Club in Boerne, Texas, has seen an uptick in rounds since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, according to Jeff Elderidge, director of agronomy.

However, Elderidge admits there’s some talk that the state of Texas may prohibit playing golf in the near future. In fact, some cities and counties in Texas have already banned golf, including San Antonio.

If that were to happen at The Club at Cordillera Ranch, Elderidge says the maintenance staff would perform some of the agronomic practices that were planned for later in the spring and early summer.

“We would take advantage of that lack of play to get some of those knocked out while we could,” Elderidge says.

In the meantime, the golf course has put in place certain measures to ensure golfers observe social distancing practices. On the driving range, the club has limited the number of stations down to ten and it has spread those out across the width of the range; flagsticks are to be left in; cups have been turned upside down; and bunker rakes have been pulled.

To keep its 20 crew members safe, the club has split them up into groups of 10, with each group working three and a half days — three 12-hour shifts and one four-hour shift per week. All equipment and touchpoints are sanitized after each shift and each crew member has his own designated maintenance cart and table at lunch.

“We’re split up because I didn’t feel comfortable with one of my guys getting sick and knocking out the whole crew,” Elderidge says. “We’ve stressed the social distancing aspect during the day while they’re at work. (However), as far as day-to-day operations, we’re working really hard that the golfer doesn’t recognize that we’re working at a half-staff right now.”