austin pond tour

Round Rock stop on Austin Pond Society tour creates fanciful spots for animals real and stone

Jennifer and Chris Cantu fill their Round Rock backyard with whimsy. 

Hidden among the plants and trees, the pathways and stones, are statues of goats and gnomes, rabbits and pigs, St. Francis and puppies. Colored or mirrored glass orbs reflect light throughout. 

The Cantus' backyard is one of 13 on display as part of the Austin Pond Society's Pond Tour on June 5-6. It's one of local two outdoor garden tours that weekend. 

The inspiration for the Cantus' pond came from a desire to look out the living room window and see something inviting. When they moved into the home in 2012, the backyard had large trees and grass. 

Now they have pathways that take you to different vignettes throughout the yard. Each space has a special story. A pergola and large circular flagstone patio were created for their daughter's wedding.

Gardening after the freeze: Know when to prune your garden in Central Texas  

A large fire bowl has rocks around it for seating. They are carefully placed, because the fire pit area covers the septic tank. 

The Cantus took a dirt mound left behind from when they carved out the pathway and turned it into a raised flowerbed with a Texas windmill statue and a bird feeder. It doubles as a berm that protects the garden from wind and water erosion.

They've placed seating areas throughout the vignettes for quiet reflection spots. Metal arches also define different spaces. 

The pond, Jennifer Cantu says, "is a nice place to try to relax." 

Hill Country Water Gardens & Nursery built the pond in 2014, and it's been easy to maintain, the Cantus say. Every day, they feed the fish and clean out any leaves that have collected in the filter. Occasionally, they need to add more water because of evaporation, but that's about it as far as upkeep for the pond.

Every few years, they remove the fish, drain the pond and give it a scrubbing. 

This year, they are building the pond back up after the historic February freeze . When temperatures plummeted, it froze over. With no power, their pump could not circulate water for 66 hours. Every day of the freeze, the Cantus poked a hole in the ice to feed the fish lying on the bottom. 

Surprisingly, most of their Shubunkin goldfish survived. ("It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be," Jennifer Cantu says.) The Cantus chose Shubunkin because they have the orange and blue colors of Jennifer's alma mater, the University of Virginia.

All but one of their mosquito fish died in the freeze, but the Cantus are replacing them to make sure that the mosquito larvae get eaten, preventing the pond from being buggy. 

The Cantus also had to replace the pond's water lilies as well as other plants around the yard, such as the milkweed for the monarch butterflies. They're carefully watching a couple of trees, including a fig, to see what their final outcome will be after the freeze . 

The Cantus are able to keep everything watered through three rainwater collection tanks. 

The pond has attracted a lot of different visitors. The Cantus' children love it, as do their six grandchildren. Their dogs like to come out and watch the fish. 

One time, they found a crawfish inside the pond, likely dropped by a bird. A red-tailed hawk got caught in the net they put over the pond when the tree above it drops leaves. He was able to be set free.

They've also had rabbits and opossums in the yard, but the best visitors to the yard are the neighbor's longhorns that come up to the fence every day for the Cantus to give them treats. Jennifer Cantu has named each one of them, and they let her pet them. 

The Cantus have completely transformed this yard from grass and trees to whimsical oasis.

"It's kind of cool to create something," Chris Cantu says. "Now I can come out here and can say I've touched every rock." 

If you go: Austin Pond and Garden Tour

When: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. June 5 (south area ponds); 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. June 6 (north area ponds)

Tickets: $20 before May 31, $25 day of tour at any pond location. Kids 12 and younger are free. No pets allowed. 

Information and tickets:   austinpondsociety.org/events

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Austin Pond Society June Members’ Meeting – Pond & Garden Tour Recap

June 19, 2023 @ 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm.

Austin Pond Society meeting will feature a video & narrative recap of our 2023 Artistic Ponderings Pond & Garden Tour. This year we were so excited to showcase 16 beautiful Ponds, Streams, Gardens, Art, & Fish for the 2023 Austin Pond & Garden Tour. This year we also featured a Night Pond! Join us on June 19th at 6:30 to revisit & remember this wonderful weekend of memories & inspiration!

Austin Pond Society

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May 26, 2021

Dive In: Austin Pond Society Tour 2021

Here’s a quick look. All pictures courtesy of Austin Pond Society members unless otherwise noted. South Gardens (Saturday, June 5)

North Gardens (Sunday, June 6)

Thanks for stopping by! See you next week, Linda

• Austin Pond Society
• Austin Pond Society tour
• Ponds and Water Features

Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas and Brian Harman among notables to miss the cut at the Masters

Jordan Spieth during the second round of the 2024 Masters Tournament. (Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

Sungjae Im, Justin Rose, Sam Burns will also fall short of cut line

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Jordan Spieth made a 9 at the par-5 15th in the first round of the Masters Tournament, matching his highest single-hole score on TOUR, en route to missing the cut by three strokes.

That was a harbinger of the cut-line chaos that unfolded Friday afternoon at Augusta National Golf Club, where 60 players made the cut at 6-over 148 or better. Players to miss the cut also included the last two major champions in Wyndham Clark and Brian Harman, in addition to world No. 6 Viktor Hovland, who carded a second-round 81 that included a three-putt double bogey from 5 feet at the par-5 15th hole, finishing two outside the number at 8-over 152.

Perhaps no player missed the cut in more heartbreaking fashion than Justin Thomas, who played his last four holes in 7-over for a back-nine 42 to miss by one stroke. Thomas was even-par for the tournament as he arrived at the 15th hole late Friday afternoon, but his second shot found the pond fronting the green, leading to a double bogey, which he followed with a double bogey at No. 16, bogey at No. 17 and double bogey at No. 18. It marked Thomas’ fourth missed cut in his last five major starts, and it bore similarities to his missed cut at last year’s Masters, where he also carded a back-nine 42 to miss the cut by one.

As the winds gusted Friday afternoon and the course continually dried out, scoring conditions grew more perilous by the minute. For most of Friday, the cut line looked most likely to settle at 4-over 146. Then it moved to 5-over 147 for a brief period. Then in the waning daylight, the cut line settled at 6-over 148, with 60 players advancing to the weekend at the Masters.

After 36 holes, the Masters field is cut to the low 50 players and ties. The second round finished with 11 players tied for 50th place at 6-over; if any one of these players finished a stroke better, the cut line would have been 5-over. Perilous margins on a perilous afternoon amidst Augusta’s famed loblolly pines, where three players share the lead at 6-under 138: Scottie Scheffler, Max Homa and Bryson DeChambeau.

Playing in Friday’s final grouping, reigning U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark had a chance to become the 61st player onward to the weekend. Following a three-putt bogey at the 17th hole, Clark bombed a drive on the finishing hole and feathered a short iron to 13 feet for a birdie try that would move him to 6-over. The putt tracked toward the hole but turned right at the end, and he joined reigning U.S. Amateur champion Nick Dunlap (who had a 38-foot birdie try at the finishing hole) as 2023 USGA winners to miss the cut by one. Dunlap’s afternoon was not without heroics, as the 20-year-old made birdie at Nos. 13, 15 and 17 (against a bogey at No. 16) in a valiant effort that fell one stroke shy.

Joining Clark, Dunlap and Thomas at 7-over 149, missing the cut by one stroke, were Justin Rose, Sungjae Im, Austin Eckroat, Zach Johnson, Mike Weir, Lee Hodges and Sergio Garcia.

Players to advance on the number (6-over 148) included Rickie Fowler, Hideki Matsuyama, Grayson Murray, Si Woo Kim, Adam Scott, Tom Kim, Jake Knapp, Luke List, Thorbjørn Olesen, Russell Henley and two-time Masters winner Jose Maria Olazábal – who at age 58 overcame a triple bogey at the par-3 12th with a birdie at No. 16 to advance to the weekend.

Vijay Singh (4-over 146) was the oldest player to make the cut, carding rounds of 75-73 at age 61. The 2000 Masters champion will play the weekend at Augusta National for the first time since 2018.

Ohio State’s Neal Shipley, last year’s U.S. Amateur runner-up, advanced to the weekend at 3-over 145, securing low amateur honors as the only of five amateurs in the field to make the cut.

In all, 29 players failed to advance to the weekend, perhaps no name more startling than Spieth, whose game through the years has shown to fit Augusta National’s demands more than most. His missed cut stems back to the mercurial 15th in the opening round. After safely laying up to 77 yards, Spieth missed the green long on his third shot, and his pitch rolled across the green and into the pond fronting the green. He walked all the way back around the pond to play his sixth shot, which again sailed over the green. He chipped on and two-putted for 9, tying the highest single-hole score of his PGA TOUR career.

Spieth began the 15th hole at 2-over, and he ended it at 6-over. He followed the quadruple bogey with a par-bogey-par finish to his first round, and he wouldn’t get any closer to the cut line for the rest of his Masters.

Spieth, 30, reported wrist trouble that affected his preparation for last week’s Valero Texas Open, but he finished T10 anyway in his final start before the Masters. The week began with buzz regarding whether the Texan could recapture the form that produced a win and a pair of runners-up in his first three Masters appearances (2014-16). It wasn’t meant to be, but the good news for Spieth lies within his lifetime Masters invitation per his 2015 victory. He’ll have more chances to earn a second green jacket.

Burns stood well outside the cut line after an opening-round 80, but he moved to the precipice with birdies on Nos. 10, 12 and 13 in the second round, which put him at 5-over total. The LSU alum made bogey on No. 15, double bogey on No. 16 and bogey on No. 17 to finish outside the line for the second time in three Masters starts.

Harman will lament a back-nine 47 in his opening round, which included a triple bogey on No. 16 followed by back-to-back double bogeys on Nos. 17 and 18. That followed an encouraging 2-under 34 to start the Masters, and he carded a respectable even-par 72 in a blustery second round. Although he was 2-under across three of his four nines, that 47 means the reigning Open champion will sit this weekend out.

Couples has struggled with back issues throughout his career, and this week was no different as he gingerly navigated hilly Augusta National with rounds of 80-76. Couples vowed afterward, though, that he would return again to compete at the Masters. “I'm planning on being healthy and making the cut and telling Fred (Ridley, chairman of Augusta National) I'm coming back the next year, too,” he said afterward.

As a Masters champion, after all, Couples has earned the right to do so.

Kevin Prise is an associate editor for the PGA TOUR. He is on a lifelong quest to break 80 on a course that exceeds 6,000 yards and to see the Buffalo Bills win a Super Bowl. Follow Kevin Prise on Twitter .