Pinnacle Peak Country Club Agronomy: June 2017

Well, the heat has arrived here in the valley. So far the course is holding up well, with transition in full effect. Overall, we are around 75% bermuda in the short grass (fairways, approaches and tees) while the green mounds, as expected, are further behind. Over the next month or so we can expect the course to continue to thin, and will maintain our fertilization of these areas to encourage bermuda recovery.

Our in-house tree trimming was completed this week, and Andy's Tree Service will begin their portion of the larger trees June 26th and continue through August. Andy’s completed the removal of three diseased or damaged trees on Monday, which were the cracked mesquite behind one green, the cracked tree on the driving range and diseased eucalyptus on 18. FNV Landscapes has completed the spring trimming of all oleanders on property and began construction of the retaining wall on 10 tee this week. Until complete, the black tee for 10 will be moved forward to the blue tee box.

Raising and cleaning all drainage boxes on the course is progressing nicely, and should be wrapped up this week or early next week. From there, we will transition into installing needed drainage in some of our low-lying areas. This will continue as time allows throughout the summer. Installation of the underground piping from the retention basin on 10 to the lake has been completed. This will be a big help moving water following rain events.

This Monday we began the aerification process of the roughs, completing holes 10-16. This will continue on Mondays for the next several weeks which should have minimal impact on play. Then the following week, starting June 19th, we will be aerifying and topdressing our aprons and areas close to greens surfaces. The topdressing should help smooth and firm these areas moving forward. Once complete, we will look toward doing the same process on tee and fairway surfaces beginning in late June and July.

Work on well 2 continues. Following the brushing and chemical treatment to clean the well shaft, it was determined that the chemical treatment was not successful. As a result, a secondary cleaning involving a stronger acid will be required to open up the perforations along the well wall. While unfortunate, this second treatment is required to ensure the newly reconditioned well works at optimum capacity. This new, stronger acid is being delivered to the course via semi-trucks over the next couple days, and throughout the next week or so Layne will be re-treating and brushing the column shaft and discarding into a large holding tank on property. Once complete, this acidic water will be treated until neutral and slowly pumped back into our irrigation ponds.

Greens recovery following last month’s aerification is complete and we are pleased with the density of both the canopy and the root system. We can expect green speeds to remain similar to where they are currently throughout the summer, with the potential to slow slightly as the heat and humidity of the summer carry on. Current root depth extends 10-12 inches down with a fibrous root system currently 6-8 inches deep.

With the increased temperatures of summer upon us, you can anticipate seeing us out on the greens hand watering in the mornings and throughout the afternoons. This is a required practice for the health and survival of our greens. We would like to remind the membership that during the summer months, it is the player’s responsibility to yield to the maintenance employee watering greens. We make every effort to avoid golfers and can usually be on and off the green in under a few minutes, but on occasion getting in between players is unavoidable. Please see the video below which helps explain what we’re doing and why it’s so important.