Time flies when you are having fun at Scottsdale Golf Course

As the saying goes “Time flies when you’re having fun.” It is hard to believe that it’s already April.  I have been very happy with the course conditions this season at Scottsdale Golf Course. It was a perfect scenario with the timing of the weather change in conjunction with overseed this year, as we didn’t have to contend with 100-degree days during the most important first 6 weeks of growth. The consistency and playability of the greens have been impeccable with tournament-like conditions throughout.  Earlier in the season, we saw a few less rounds which means less ball marks and less traffic, all beneficial to the  Scottsdale Golf Course and to those of you trying to book tee times. 

   I would like to take a minute to discuss our bunkers, consistency, and playability at the Best Golf Course in Scottsdale Bunkers are one of the most popular topics discussed around any club.  They are often criticized for being too hard, too soft, too wet, or contaminated with sediment.  Discussions almost always end with the familiar refrain: “All we want are consistent bunkers!”  I have some good news and some not-so-good news.  It can be done.  For many years, much before I got into this business 21 years ago, golf course superintendents have tried to maintain all the bunkers with the same riding machine or hand raking technique.  In a quest for consistency, this approach was doomed to fail because of the many factors that influence bunker performance.  The shape of the subgrade, the runoff of surface water, the spacing of the drain lines, the amount of irrigation used nightly in the desert, and the position of the bunkers in relation to the prevailing wind and direction of the sun are a few of the factors that make each bunker unique.  The same maintenance program does not produce consistent bunkers at the Best Golf Course in Scottsdale.  As you can see, it is impossible to have true consistency from one bunker to the next or one hole to the next.  There is nothing consistent about golf, you have a downhill lie or an uphill lie, hitting a pitching wedge will give you a different lie in a bunker than a screaming 4 iron will give you.  I know that it is our maintenance team’s responsibility to maintain these bunkers as perfect and consistent as possible, which can be very costly and labor-intensive.  We recognize there are challenges we have to adjust to and we have made adjustments and have implemented the “Aussie Method” raking technique about 4 weeks ago. This method involves minimizing disturbance of bunker faces and only aggressively raking the floors of the bunkers.  We use paint rollers to smooth bunker faces which creates a firmer base to negate plugged lies from happening. Another crucial piece to this challenge is dedicating more labor hours and being proactive in the adjustment of the sand depths. The objective is to make sure that we are maintaining them at the proper 3”- 4” depths range on the floors of the bunkers.  So, given all the uncontrollable factors I listed earlier, and how they affect the consistency and playability of each bunker, I can assure you that our team is striving for the best.  I want to thank each of you for the great feedback and comments regarding course conditions and the continued support for the long-term sustainability of the Best Golf Course in Scottsdale.