Pinnacle Peak Country Club Agronomy: 2024

Tuesday, August 6, 2024

G&G - August 2024

We hope everyone is enjoying their summer wherever you may be. The summer weather has been interesting. The humidity and higher dew point came in around June 20 this year. 2-3 weeks earlier than expected. However, we have not received much rain this monsoon. There have been many windy nights but only ½ inch on July 14^th.

The greens and collar are doing well. We are pleased with their health at this point in the difficult summer months. The new fans on 4,5,6, have made a large impact on the health of those greens. Additionally, a fan has been added to #13 and #17. However, #17 is not operating at this point. The electrical conduit line must be dug through the G&G yard/parking lot connecting the power to the new G&G building. Hopefully, we will complete this sometime in August. We are coordinating with the General Contractor on the building to complete this task. This will complete the fan project that has been ongoing for 7 years now. We have a fan on all greens for a total of 19 fans.

The greens are about to enter the most difficult part of the summer season. August 1 through Sept 15 is the most critical period. The soil temperatures, dew points, humidity, and air temperatures are very high and outside the physical capabilities of the bentgrass green. The roots have been shrinking and the turf canopy thinning for about 6 weeks now. These conditions trigger the bentgrass to go into a self-preservation state and are restricted in their ability to grow roots and leaf tissue. All these variables combined will make the greens feel softer and will add to the ball mark challenges due to the turf's inability to recover under stressful conditions. We ask for your patience as we manage these stressful conditions and ensure the health of our greens. We also asked for everyone's help in repairing ball marks and please be careful when repairing your marks not to tear the turf. Stretch but don’t tear. The tearing will make the ball mark worse by killing the surrounding turf.

G&G team recently completed our summer cultural practices. This year’s practices focused on thatch removal. A deep and aggressive verticut was applied to all surfaces (minus greens) to remove a year’s worth of buildup. Thatch and excess organic matter accumulate through the year due to old leaf tissue dying to make way for new leaf tissue, water, and the impurities in the water, inputs such as pesticides and fertilizers, and decaying debris from the surrounding vegetation and trees. The removal of this material aids in the gas exchange of the soils to create healthier turf conditions. Additionally, the work we do now prepares the turf to be healthy for overseeding and enter dormancy in the winter months. This year practices produced almost 500 cubic yards of thatch removal or approximately 12 large roll dumpsters. The removal of the material was a bit tricky due to the ongoing construction of the new G&G building and the limited room in our yard currently.

G&G additionally applied 200 tons of topdressing sand to the fairways, tees, and approaches. This has been an ongoing practice for 8 years now. We now have been able to amend the soil on the golf course to have approximately a 3" sand cap on the golf course. The sand cap has continued to help drainage and provide firmer, faster, and tighter conditions consistently. Additionally, the better soil conditions help to improve the root and turf density of our Bermuda grass which aids in our successful transitions over the past several years.

The transition has gone very well this year. Except for several high-traffic areas near bunkers the Bermuda base has recovered very well from this past year's overseeed. We are very happy with the results again this year. There continue to be challenges with Goosegrass. That is the wide leaf bunch of grass that can grow very large. Goosegrass is in the same family as Bermuda grass and is very tricky to remove without damaging the Bermuda grass. We have been applying a couple herbicides to treat and suppress the goosegrass and will temporarily hinder the Bermuda grass. You will see this damage around the high-density area of the goose grass. Holes #2, #4, #14 green surround, and #16 seem to have the highest population with other holes. We additionally are dotting the plants with weed dobbers to kill off the individual plants.

The G&G building continues to move along. The target to finish will be sometime in late August and move in early to mid-September. The project has had several delays due to subcontractor schedules and materials delays. Additionally, city inspections have been difficult to get done promptly due to the city’s scheduling. The project remains within budget with minimal changes.

The pond liner project on #1 tee and #9 green started on July 8^th. In 2021 during the bunker renovations project the upper small ponds were cleaned out and it was discovered that the liners were severely compromised. This past spring the strategic planning, finance, golf, and green& grounds committees all collaborated to move the repairs forward to address the water loss concerns. The state of AZ will be implementing new water restrictions in January of 2025 cutting PPCC’s water allotment an additional 5% on top of the 5% that was cut in 2023. Additionally, a tee box re-design project was added for #1 and #3. Andy Staples was engaged in designing these projects. (see design below). #3 Tee box re-design focused on enhancing the tee space, and conditions, and providing a larger variety of yardage options. #3 Tee box is set to begin on August 6^th. All projects are currently on schedule and have a target of being completed around Labor Day.

During the 12-day course closure, all contract tree trimming was performed throughout the entire golf course. Our contractor trims all trees that require being off the ground. The G&G team handles all of the small trees that can be trimmed from the ground. G&G is currently finishing up #17, #18 and the parking lot.

This summer 42 trees have been removed. The decision to remove these trees is based on a master tree plan that was created by Andy Staples, golf course architect, and the health evaluation by our Arborist Eric Belcher from Bartlett Tree Company.

PPCC_Tree Management Report_11-29-23_Final.pdf

37 of those trees were Desert Sweet Acacias that were planted on the turf. Sweet Acacias are not well suited to be in the grass and receive the amount of water applied to the grass. The excess water has caused many of these trees to grow erratically and become diseased. 4 eucalyptus trees were removed. 1 on #10 was half dead and 3 on #16. The 3 eucalyptuses on #16 were in poor health and located to the SE of the 16^th green causing shading issues on the green. 1 mesquite tree was removed along a homeowner wall left of the #16 cart path. This mesquite was beginning to damage the wall and was in poor condition.

G&G will begin planting approximately 60 new trees beginning August 5^th. All new trees being planted are following the master tree plan. The species and location of all trees were reviewed both by Andy Staples and Eric Belcher.

We hope everyone enjoys the remainder of your summer.

Regards - G&G Department

Drilling in foundation for fans #17 Green

Adding draining #3 approach

Verticutting fairways

Verticutting Tee

Cleaning tees by hand

Some of the 500 cubic yards of thatch removal

Topdressing Fairways

Brushing in light maintenance topdressing on greens

Andy's Tree Services doing the large tree trimming

Andy Staples design for the pond and tees #1

Andy Staples Design Tee #3

Beginning of demo pond #1

Removing sludge and muck from the pond - 11 semi-loads had to be hauled off

Starting to shape

Broken liner in the water falls - water was eroding under the cement

Moving the recirculation pipe to new upper pond

Starting to shape upper pond and new tee and event space

More shaping

Lower pond in front of #9 green after demo

Starting to shape lower pond

Upper tee/event space and upper pond and waterfalls shaped with boulders added

Starting the lining process

Doors and windows being stalled

Stucco Finished

Utilities and foundation are being prepped for new fuel tanks

Grading west and leveling west yard for addition of 13,000 sq ft of asphalt

West yard grading

HVAC work being installed

Electrical being installed

Wednesday, April 3, 2024

Green & Grounds Blog - Jan-March 2024

We hope everyone is doing well!!! We are in the final stretch of the spring tournaments and events. The Sunrise, Salida, and Sunset were great events. We hope everyone and their guests had a great time. In a couple more weeks the heat will be arriving, and the end of the winter season will be here.

The course did well throughout the entire winter season. We were very happy with the turf conditions. The Greens have maintained a 12-13 readying on the stimp for the entire season. The new collars are thriving and performing well. The overseed withstood the cold snaps of winter and we are seeing a healthy amount of Bermuda grass emerging already.

You will see over the next several weeks that we will be verticutting the greens. The verticut will be visible but will not affect the playability. We will be performing a light verticutting, brush, and grooming through the spring to help remove old leaf tissue and make room for new emerging tissue. These processes also help to increase plant health and readiness for the stresses of summer.

As mentioned before, we are seeing a tremendous amount of Bermuda grass coming through the overseed. This is a great sign for transition. Additionally, we will be applying the 1^st application of 2 applications of a herbicide in mid-April and begin slowly removing the ryegrass. The 2^nd application will be applied the 2^nd week of May. This herbicide will begin the 10–12-week process of slowly removing the ryegrass and allow the Bermuda grass to outcompete the ryegrass. The effects will not be sudden or immediate and will not disrupt play. The only indication will be the ryegrass will be slightly lighter for about a week. This is the same process we have been using for several years now and has proven to be very successful at transitioning the Bermuda grass back.

Green and Grounds have begun to add more vegetation to the deserts. Several areas were not completed when the project began during the Bunker Renovation Project. We recently completed the area by #7 bathroom, #2 tee box, and #17 green. We have several sporadic areas 10-17 that we will be finishing up through the summer.

Progress continues on the Golf Course Maintenance Facilities. The demolition has been completed and signed off by the City of Scottsdale. The footers for the foundation have been dug and partially framed. However, several unexpected challenges have arisen including;

Engineered plans had to be re-engineered to secure two foundations together, as the existing foundation was different than expected.
The water source line for the bathroom on #7 had to be relocated.
The septic line from the bathroom was found to have several issues causing the need for replacement.
The City of Scottsdale required our permit to be changed from a renovation to a new build.

These items are being worked on but are currently delaying the footers and foundation pour.

Despite all the challenges the General Contractor is still optimistic about finishing the building by July.

In addition to the new building, several other items are being remodeled and/or improved. Upon completion of the new building, the entire yard and existing structures will all be updated to match. The following is a list of the other areas in addition to the new building.

Important to note that the additional projects below were included in our estimated budget approved by the membership.

A large room was segmented last fall into 3 smaller rooms. The new storage area allowed us to relocate from the old building the chemical/fertilizer storage, operation supplies storage, and the irrigation parts room. By moving these storage areas out of the old building we were able to expand the future lunchroom for the staff.
Another large room was segmented into 2 separate rooms. These 2 new rooms allowed us to relocate the mechanical parts storage into a new climate-controlled room. The other room is our temporary lunchroom for the staff until the new building is completed. Upon completion, the room will be converted into a small power tools storage area.
The rear gate and wall were moved late last summer to allow us to expand the building.
A new gas tank is also required. The life expectancy of the fuel tank is 25-30 years. Our current fuel tank is 25 years old. The fuel is being relocated to a more convenient area in the middle of the yard for better accessibility. Instead of moving the old tank and having to replace it again in a few years, it was decided to purchase a new tank for the new location.
The west side of our yard is currently a dirt yard. We will be paving this area with asphalt. The new area is approximately 13,000 sq. feet.
A 20ft x 80ft shade structure will be installed along the west wall to protect our large specialty equipment from the sun.
The remaining portion of the building will also be refurbished. The roof will be resealed/repaired, and all walls will be repainted.
In the mechanics bay a small new room will be constructed with ventilation to enclose the reel grinders. This will help shield the noise and help control the particulate matter from sharpening out mower reels. Additionally, a small wall will be constructed to enclose the large air compressor to help with the noise.
A new water line from the meter by #17 green to the shop will also have to be installed. A portion of the line was trenched from the meter to the parking lot. The remaining line will be trenched and installed later.

G&G has been aiding the contractor with several of the trenching projects to help keep the costs down. This requires removing labor from the golf course during these special projects. Additionally, the operation of G&G has been impacted significantly by the demolition and construction. We continue to ask for your patience and understanding as we work through this large project.

We look forward to finishing out the season. We wish everyone a safe and fun summer wherever you may be.

Regards,

Cody Horstman, Director of Agronomy