Jeanne Osborne of West Columbia putts on Hancock Park Golf Course’s No. 5 green while Terry Osborne, also of West Columbia, watches. To return greens on Hancock’s back nine holes to the healthy condition of front-nine greens, golf course maintenance staff have switched from a mineral treatment mixture to granular fertilizer only. Workers also plan to sprig new grass on damaged holes. PHOTOS BY DAVID LOWE In a special meeting Friday, the Lampasas City Council approved funding for rehabilitation of damaged greens on the back nine holes of Hancock Park Golf Course.

Several greens -- particularly on holes 13, 14, 17 and 18 -- look brown and bare, as grass most likely died because of powdered potassium sulfate included recently in the mineral mix used to treat the greens, Golf Course Manager Van Berry said.

Maintenance staff, who now are applying only granular fertilizer to greens, had used potassium sulfate in pellet form for about two years with no problems, Berry said.

David Houghton of Lago Vista putts on Hancock Park Golf Course’s No. 13 green, where course manager Van Berry believes a potassium sulfate application killed the grass. The council approved MW Hail Construction Inc.’s bid of $7,650 for irrigation pipe installation and fittings, and OK’d the spending of as much as $9,470 for the sprigging of grass on damaged greens on the back nine holes.

The golf course has money to cover much of the expenses, although the city also likely will take some reserves from an employee compensation fund that has not been used in years, City Manager Michael Stoldt said. City staff plan to ask the City Council to remove the fund from the upcoming fiscal-year budget, as Stoldt said changes in compensation policies have rendered the fund unnecessary.

Although the council approved as much as $9,470 for new grass on damaged greens, Berry believes sprigging can be done for closer to $6,600. Only four of the back nine greens will need to be completely redone, he said, as holes 10, 11, 12, 15 and 16 have regrown anywhere from about 60 to 90 percent.

“The last week and a half or two weeks they’ve really been coming back,” the golf course manager said. “I hate to kill it if it’s recovering.”

Although golfers can play all 18 of Hancock Park Golf Course’s holes, Berry said the greens on holes 13, 14, 17 and 18 are playing extremely fast and look in poor shape. He hopes all greens can recover fully within six weeks, as Berry said the golf course still has two large tournaments to host this year.

Despite the appearance of several putting areas, the course manager said play has been busy this summer. The number of golfers who played the course in June was “up considerably” from the same month last year, Berry added.

“It hasn’t kept the golfers away,” he said of the trouble on certain holes. “The golf course is in excellent shape, except for the back nine.”