Pinnacle Peak Country Club Agronomy: August 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