[Steve_ Shaffer]

As I write this, the outside temperature is 107F at 430pm. I reside in an "active adult" golf community in the West Valley of Phoenix with 3 18 hole courses. Here is an update from our Director of Golf:


The golf staff appreciates your patience as the courses continue to go through the summer transition season. You should expect wetter than normal conditions on all the golf courses, as it is recommended to increase water outputs to encourage Bermuda grass recovery. This will cause some localized wet areas, but is a necessary practice in order to allow the Bermuda grass to regrow from over seeding.
[/size]The East and West courses at Tuscany Falls are transitioning fairly well; the conditions at Eagle's Nest are not quite as good as the Tuscany Falls courses. We have just opened the Eagle's Nest golf course after deep tine aerifying all fairways, and heavily top dressed several fairways over the past two weeks.  We are experiencing a hard transition in those fairways at this time. With the rise in humidity and the deep tine aerifying, most of the winter grass has been removed. We will continue to aerify and fertilize the 'hot spots' in an effort to stimulate the Bermuda.  The heat and humidity also affect the PD102 greens as they get 'puffy' during this time of the year.  We have had to increase our height of mowing so that the greens mowers don't scalp and damage the grass. We have started using groomers on the greens mowers to help reduce the thatch in the greens, and this will also help with the speed. This type of weather should help the Bermuda grass crawl and fill in the void areas more quickly.  The aerifying also reduces compaction and creates channels for oxygen and water to help leach the salts that are in the soil. The heavy top dressing helps change the soil profile to better manage the salt levels. [/color]
[/size]We will continue to review and monitor the conditions at the golf courses, managing them with water, fertilizer, and aerification.  It will take 4-6 weeks for the Bermuda grass to recover. This time of the year is a challenge for all Phoenix-area golf courses, and your golf maintenance staff is working hard to take us through this necessary transition.[/color]

[David_Tepper]

Steve -

I know absolutely nothing about Bermuda grass maintenance, especially in & around Phoenix. But it does seem a little odd to be doing this sort of maintenance at the end of July, with the summer half gone.

DT

[Steve_ Shaffer]

East was closed for maintenance 2 weeks beginning June 3. West was closed for 2 weeks beginning June 18. Eagles Nest was closed for 3 weeks and  opened on July 27.   Eagles Nest will be undergoing a 4M renovation beginning in December and it won't be overseeded in the fall That's where the transition has been difficult even though work has been done. Hopefully, renovation, including a new irrigation system, will improve conditions there.

[Peter Ferlicca]

Morning Steve,

I am the superintendent at Verrado/Victory Golf Club right down the street from you guys.  I actually just went to a seminar a couple of weeks ago that was at pebblecreek regarding transition/overseed.  It was a big consensus that this summer has been one of the toughest years to transition in the past decade or so.  The reasoning is the extremely mild spring we had, (May was one of the coolest Mays in the past 30 years, night lows were in the low 60s and it only got above 85 degrees 4 times total for the month).  A May like that is just perfect weather for the ryegrass, making it stronger and really settling into its strength overpowering the Bermuda.  Usually in May it is getting warm and the Bermuda is starting to shine through, but that wasn't the case this year.  Clubs that stuck to their plan and sprayed out the rye early in May, should be fine right now, but they most likely didn't look good at all during a cool May and a mild June when there was a lot people still playing golf.  A second reason for a tough transition was monsoon season didn't start until July 22nd, this usually starts the first week of July.  All in all, a cold May and late start to monsoon season isn't ideal for Bermuda.  We just now have had two good weeks for growing Bermuda grass. 

It all depends on the type of herbicide being used to spray out your ryegrass also.  Some clubs go a little more aggressive to attack poa annua (Tribute Total, Revolver, Monument, Simizine) while other clubs go for the way less aggressive approach and a slower kill (Sapphire).  If a club did Sapphire in April or May they had a much smoother transition, any other clubs that used a different approach, not so much. 

[AStaples]

I'm working on a bunker reno up the road at FireRock CC, and we've been dealing with the issues you're describing during our regrassing, and fairway renovation.  First, the temps were incredibly low when we started, to the point we delayed sprigging a few weeks to wait for higher temps and better growing weather.  Second, the dew points have been very low all summer, meaning the humidity the Bermuda likes to grow, didn't get to "normal" until a week or 2 ago (I put normal in quotes, as I'm not sure exactly what that means - I hear last year Phoenix didn't have more than 56 "normal" growing days, which isn't a lot (we'd like more than 75!!)). And last, the water quality is very important.  The quality up here is awful, and the high salts make growing warm season turf much more difficult.


Here's an example: the sprigs that went down in early June are really close coverage-wise to the sprigs that went down just a few weeks ago.  That's a good example of how weather can affect the recovery of Bermuda grass, and how important good growing time is to golf course projects.

[David Druzisky]

Sounds like Steve and Andy (Hey Andy!) are right in the thick of things there with the usual challenges associated with transition which for as long as I can remember vary each year.  ugh!  So many variables including the very much uncontrollable Mother Nature.  Over the years I saw far too many superintendents with their jobs hanging in the balance, especially at the private clubs were there were always a select few members brave (or stupid) enough to play almost every day and complained even though it happened pretty much every summer like clockwork.


There are a couple phases to the summers in Phoenix.  The dry early half, and the humid 2nd half.....typically.  It was that 1st half where the rye finally checked out yet the bermuda wasn't really pushing hard enough to quickly fill in the gaps.  Heck, we even felt sprigging on new builds any time before July 1 was premature.


Actually, I think if I had a 3 course facility I would be considering not overseeding one of the courses each year on a rotating basis.  Gives that course a good full growth year, is available right on through the overseeding period which frankly is a bigger loss than transitional months in terms of good golfing weather, and will be great all summer with no transitional issues.  Less water use (Andy?) and no seed cost.  Plus many actually love playing off the dormant Bermuda.

[Steve_ Shaffer]

David,


Thanks for your reply. We are considering not overseeding on a rotating basis after the renovation is completed on one of our courses next November or December.

[Tom Bacsanyi]

Another potential factor is the breeding efforts of the seed producers of perennial ryegrasses guys are using.  If the rye hangs around because it is more heat/drought/disease tolerant, then it makes it that much harder for the bermuda to get going.  Older varietals tended to swiftly check out as soon as temps got above say 95 for an extended period, but I was listening to a Palm Springs guy talk about how it had been 100+ for many days in a row and the rye was holding on like a champ. 

[Dave Givnish]

Steve -


See if you guys can take a look at the grass they are using on Seven and Renegade at Desert Mountain. I'm not clear what exactly was used on the fairways, but the plan is not to have to overseed the courses.


We're supposed to see the first cuts in water distribution from the Colorado next year. I wonder how much that will push the non-tourist courses to alternatives to save water.


Dave

[Steve_ Shaffer]

Dave,


Desert Mountain is at a higher elevation than Pebble Creek. They are using bent grass for fairways at Renegade and probably at Seven too.




https://www.golfcoursearchitecture.net/content/desert-mountain-makes-changes-to-its-dual-greened-renegade-course

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