AUSTIN (KXAN) — Great Hills Country Club has reported that this year has brought more feral hog activity than they have seen previously, causing extensive damage to their golf course.

The areas affected by feral hog activity include the back nine holes, fairways, roughs, and tee slopes.

Their plans to repair will address current damage and discourage future damage from happening.

Their first objective is to bring up damage caused by the feral hogs, including large and small chunks of grass uprooted from their activity. The country club reports that this can only be done one piece at a time, however, so this will impact how players can use the course through the winter and spring months.

To speed up the growing process, the country club will oversee the area with a winter rye to keep the soil intact. Players will be encouraged to play this area as “Ground Under Repair,” or with caution over the next few months.

Once grass growth has been encouraged, the Bermuda grass that players are familiar with will be planted in place.

The country club’s second objective is to add measures to prevent further damage in the future. They say that the possible cause for feral hog activity in the first place is that the hogs tend to avoid populated areas, unless there is a dry spell in the area.

These dry spells can cause the hogs to search elsewhere for their possible food source: grub worms, which can be found on the golf course.

To counter this activity, Great Hills will shift from selective treatment for grub worms and use a more effective product to curtail hog activity. The golf course has also upgraded its hog trap to promote efficiency when there are large periods of hog activity on their course.

A night-watchman has also been implemented to disrupt any activity from the animals. The Board of Directors at Great Hills, as well as other staff members, will continue to investigate and communicate new options to counter-act the activity as it becomes available.