Pinnacle Peak Country Club Agronomy: June 2016

Friday, June 24, 2016

G.R.P. Update 6/24/2016

It's been another productive week here at Pinnacle Peak Country Club. Landscapes Unlimited is starting to hit their stride, having split up into three separate crews. The first crew is continuing the core-out of the greens, currently working on 5. A second crew has begun the drainage and gravel bed installation and is currently working on holes 11 and 12. Shaping of the new short game area is complete, with a third crew starting the irrigation installation today. Irrigation should be complete within the next day or two, with sod scheduled to be installed next week. Following that, irrigation will begin to go in around the putting and chipping green. The retaining wall and stone cap is complete on hole 1 and construction of the tee has begun.

Andy's Tree Service continues to trim some of our large trees on property, completing 1,8,18,2,17 and currently working on holes 4-7. Bartlett's Tree Service has also been on site, treating and fertilizing as needed.

The agronomy department has had a productive week as well. With stripping and sand-capping tee tops completed last week, it has freed up the crew to begin leveling sinkholes that are in various rough areas. We have completed one on the left side of 1 fairway, as well as a large sinkhole left of 16 fairway. This will continue throughout the summer as time allows with the goal of correcting most of the sinkholes throughout the course. Aerification and de-thatching of the fairways has progressed nicely, with half the course completed with it's third pass. Topdressing fairways has started with holes 1, 2 and 8 being complete before the weekend. With the humidity rising and monsoon season here, the course in general is really starting to recover, with more and more green showing up daily.

#10 Green with moisture barrier, drainage and gravel installation complete

Practice area with moisture barrier, drainage and gravel installed. Next step is installing irrigation.

Trenching through the approach on #11 for SubAir drainage.

Core-out complete on #4 green.

Core-out process underway on #5 green.

Irrigation being installed on new short game area. Pink flags designate the location of the chipping green.

Before and after tree trimming on #18.

Overgrown Eucalyptus behind the bathroom on 7
looking much improved after trimming.

Retaining wall and stone cap complete on #1 tee.

Superintendent Cody Horstman getting in on the action while building new tee complex on #1.

Adding soil to eliminate sinkhole located in #1 rough.

Dakota topdressing beginning application of sand on #1 fairway.

#1 Fairway complete with sand.

#1 fairway after sand has been dragged in and irrigated. Similar to the tees, we will continue to drag to promote smoothness as the fairway recovers.

#10 tee tops continue to fill in nicely. Some additional time required around the edge but mowing not far away.

South tee ready and awaiting July 1.

Friday, June 17, 2016

G.R.P. Update 6/17/2016

It's been another fantastic week of progress here at Pinnacle Peak Country Club. Landscapes Unlimited has made fantastic progress with the greens renovation, with all greens cored out with the exception of 4-9, 1 and 18. Shaping of the sub-grade for the new practice putting and chipping greens is complete, with moisture barrier, drainage, collar irrigation and gravel layer being installed on the putting green. Currently, we are on schedule with the construction timeline. The new retaining walls installed on tee complexes #1 and #3 is almost complete, with the stone cap scheduled to be installed within the next day or two.

The Agronomy department has also had a very busy week. Taking advantage of the cooler temperatures, the tee clean-up and sand-capping crews have completed all tees on the golf course. They are being fertilized bi-weekly to encourage growth and the first tees that were completed are showing promising progress. De-thatching of the rough and fairways has been completed, with an impressive pile of debris accumulated off of hole #4. Initial aerification pass of the fairways is also complete, with the majority of the front 9 fairways completed with their second pass. Aerification of the rough has also begun, utilizing our vintage and timeless 1966 Ford tractor. The expectation is to complete the rough in about a week and to do multiple aerifications throughout the Summer.

Gravel blanket and drainage being installed on the practice facility.

#4 Green starting to be cored out

Core-out process complete on #2 Green

Retaining wall almost complete on #1 tee.

Retaining wall almost complete on #3 tee.

Re-growth of Bermudagrass on #10 tee.

Crew finishing sand-capping of #18 tee.

Debris pile located on #4. Should start to diminish as tee work has finished.

Juan getting the rough aerified atop the legend.

Friday, June 10, 2016

G.R.P. Update 6/10/2016

It's been another productive week here at Pinnacle Peak Country Club. All greens have been sod-cut, with turf removal finishing up through 17 and beginning on 2. Core-out has been completed on holes 10-14 with 15 and 16 close behind. The putting green area is currently being graded and is beginning to take shape. Preliminary soil work of the chipping green has also started, with additional shaping work to be done over the next week as excess fill material is harvested from the putting green area.

On the agronomic side, de-thatching and aerification of fairways has been completed through hole 13. This first round of cultural practices should be wrapped up next week, just in time to start over and begin fairway aerification for a 2nd time as health of the turf allows. Tee tops have been stripped and aerified through hole 8, with sand-capping completed through 6. There's been an encouraging amount of new leaf tissue on the tees we completed last week, which will continue to be fertilized weekly to encourage growth. Green and tee surrounds are still recovering from last winter's overseed and recent cultural practices, but have also shown progress and greening over the course of the week.

12 green cored out to sub-grade and drainage trenches exposed.

13 green cored out to sub-grade with drainage trenches exposed.

15 green lower sand profile and gravel layer being excavated.

16 green sand profile being excavated for future topdressing on fairways.

Initial incomplete grading of chipping area. Will begin to take better shape as fill material is removed and brought over from the putting green area.

Initial shaping of the new, enlarged putting green with chipping area in the background.

Filemon breaking plugs on 13 fairway for faster cleanup.

Turf recovery on 10 tee approximately one week after sand-capping.

Francisco applying sand to 7 tee.

Saturday, June 4, 2016

G.R.P. Update 6/3/2016

It's been a busy first week of the project here at Pinnacle Peak Country Club. The practice facility is in full swing, with core out of the old greens just about complete and shaping of the new green cavity beginning. Core out on #10 is progressing, with sod stripping and removal working on #11 through #15. The chipping green area has been stripped of sod and shaping work should begin early next week.

As for the Agronomy Department, things have been just as busy. De-thatching and aerification has been completed on all of the green surrounds and approaches, as well as a heavy sand topdressing applied to all approaches, which should grow in nicely over the next couple weeks. Our version of "fraze" mowing has been completed on tee tops on #1, #10, #11 and #12, with a layer of new sand floated out and smoothed. The Bermuda should begin regenerating and filling in the tee tops within the next few weeks. De-thatching and aerification of the rough and fairways has begun, and will continue for the next couple of weeks. Cleanup is extensive but the process is critical for a healthy Bermuda base.