09/09/2026
The important letter…
To Our Golfers, Friends, and the Casa Blanca Community,
As we prepare to welcome everyone back to Casa Blanca Golf Course this Saturday, I’ve found myself thinking about what the last three months have meant to all of us.
It has been a journey.
We endured severe heat, incredibly dry conditions, water challenges, equipment challenges, and countless other issues, some big and some small. There were days when it seemed like as soon as we solved one problem, another one showed up.
But through all of it, there was one image that stuck with me.
One flag standing tall.
That flag became our inspiration and, in many ways, a symbol of what was happening here at Casa Blanca.
One Flag. One Team. One Family. One Goal.
Every day, our guys and gals showed up. They battled the heat. They battled the dryness. They worked through the lack of water and whatever else was thrown at them. They kept moving forward because they understood what we were working toward and, more importantly, what Casa Blanca Golf Course means to Webb County and this community.
If you told me tomorrow that we had to do it all over again, I would do it with the exact same people standing beside me.
I couldn’t be prouder of them.
Along the way, we also had some tremendous people step up and help us get across the finish line.
First, I want to recognize our Webb County leadership: Commissioners Wawi Tijerina, John Galo, Jesse Gonzalez and Ricky Jaime, along with Judge Tano Tijerina. Their support and willingness to invest in Casa Blanca played an important role in getting us to this point.
I also want to thank the executive team of Lalo Uribe, Leroy Medford, and Melinda along with our Road & Bridge and Building & Maintenance teams, including Mike de La Fuente and Jose Luis Neira. When we needed help, these teams were there.
Our Purchasing team, Joe Lopez, Cesar Guerra, Sylvia, Liliana and Juan, worked with us throughout this process, and I want to extend a sincere thank-you to our Webb County Auditor’s Office for helping make the purchasing process as smooth as possible.
Our Budget team, Betty, Priscilla, Eric and the entire department, also deserves a huge thank-you. There are so many things that happen behind the scenes to make a project like this possible, and their work and support should not go unnoticed.
Our Commissioners approved the purchase of three new pieces of equipment that arrived at exactly the right time. Those machines came in clutch and gave our crew the final tools they needed to mow, cut, detail, and begin presenting this golf course the way you will see it Saturday.
Skip Woods, our well guy, came through in a big way and helped get our well water going when we desperately needed it.
Dave Schackleford and the team at United Ag & Turf were tremendous in helping us locate and secure quality equipment.
Chino Miramontes, our supervising superintendent, shared his experience, knowledge, and guidance throughout the process.
To every one of them: thank you.
But the greatest amount of credit belongs to our home team right here at Casa Blanca Golf Course.
They stepped up.
They put their heads down and went to work. No excuses. No shortcuts. Just people doing whatever needed to be done to get us here.
I’m a firm believer in hiring great people, giving them the tools and support they need, and then getting out of their way and allowing them to do what they do best.
My responsibility is to stand behind them, support them, and fight for what we believe we need to succeed—especially when we understand how important this golf course is to Webb County and our community.
I want our community to know the names of the people who helped make this possible:
Jesus Gallo – Superintendent
Gilbert Gamboa – Foreman
Oscar Patlan
Giovanny Guerra
Guadalupe Moncivais
Abraham Granados
Joe Torres
David Palacios
Bruce Bender
Brandon Urdiales
Joey Gamez
Roy Velasquez
Rhiannon Quiroga
Karla Cisneros
Billy Palacios
Hector Pulido
Chris Holguin
Jackie Gutierrez
Mary Alvarado
Kassandra Bernal
Melanie Soto
Ana Serna
Wendy Ramos
Sam Sanchez
Raul Rodriguez
Trinidad Rodriguez
Charlie Uribe
Ricky Salinas
Juan Castillo
These are the people behind Casa Blanca.
From our maintenance crew to golf operations, food and beverage, administration, marketing, and everyone in between, every person played a part.
Different jobs. Different responsibilities. Different departments.
But when Casa Blanca needed us, titles and departments didn’t matter. Casa Blanca mattered.
That’s what a team looks like.
And now we finally get to welcome you back.
But I want everyone to understand something very important:
Saturday is NOT the finished product.
Please don’t walk onto the course Saturday and think, “This is it.”
Because we’re just getting started.
What you see Saturday—and what you will see in the days and weeks ahead, is still a work in progress. We will continue growing, improving, detailing, repairing, and pushing this golf course forward.
Our expectations are much higher than simply reopening the doors.
We want Casa Blanca Golf Course to be something this entire community can be proud of.
There is still plenty of work ahead of us, and we’re ready for it.
But after everything this team has been through over the last three months, I can’t tell you how excited I am to see cars pulling into the parking lot again, golfers walking onto the course, friends giving each other a hard time on the first tee, and our community enjoying their golf course again.
And most of all…
I can’t wait to see everyone putt on these new greens!
To our golfers, Webb County, our Commissioners, our partners, vendors, friends, and everyone who supported and encouraged us throughout this process: thank you for believing in Casa Blanca.
And to my staff:
I’m proud of you.
I know what these last three months required of you. I know the hours. I know the heat. I know the frustrations. And I know about the hundreds of little problems you solved behind the scenes that most people will never know happened.
When things got difficult, you didn’t walk away.
You showed up.
You stood together.
You kept working.
You kept fighting.
And through it all, that one flag kept standing tall.
Maybe that’s the perfect symbol for these last three months.
No matter how hot it got, how dry it became, or what problem came next, the flag was still there, and so were we.
One Flag.
One Team.
One Family.
One Goal.
Now it’s time to welcome our community home.
Welcome back to Casa Blanca Golf Course.
Oscar Urdiales
General Manager
Casa Blanca Golf Course
