Turf Transition Update

What a terrific weekend of golf from the British Isles!

We wanted to provide an update on our PGA WEST Courses as we continue through the transition period from winter “overseed” turf back to our summer stand of Bermuda grass.

Aerification normally takes about two weeks and involves aggressive opening up of the subsurface to help remove thatch to allow water to better reach the roots and promote a healthier plant. For the greens, it also involves topdressing the aerification holes with sand to the subservice which allows more efficient drainage. For the greens and fairways, it may also involve adding soil amendments to change the pH in the soil to a more healthier level and adding nutrients that are lacking in the soil based off of soil samples and lab testing. We schedule each Course for two aerifications each summer – all planned in advance to ensure we always have a few Courses open for play.

Arnold Palmer Course

The second aerification on the Palmer Course has been completed, and our Agronomy Team continues to fertilize and strategically water to promote further growth. However, after reviewing the 16th green, we decided to strip it and have it entirely resodded. The 16th green just did not have enough summer turf coming out of dormancy to fill out the green in a reasonable amount of time. We have prepared a temporary green for #16 in case the green is not quite ready to play on, but we are hopeful we will not need it. The other greens nearer to the mountains were also weaker, but have responded well over the last few weeks. They may not be 100% turf covered when we reopen, but they are getting there.
Plan: The Palmer will reopen on Monday, August 1st

TPC Stadium Course

The Course closed July 5th for its scheduled first aerification and we have several fairways where the winter Rye grass has died off leaving large areas bare before the summer Bermuda grass filled in. The Agronomy Team has spread sprigs onto some of the fairways, and are watering these areas with fine mist sprinklers to keep them damp. We also have some greens that have not grown in as quickly as we would like to see to have play on them, so we have decided to keep the Course closed between the two aerifications so that when we reopen we can be back to normal summer conditions. Ernie's continues to be open every day except Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
Plan: The Stadium will reopen on Friday, August 12th

Nicklaus Private, Weiskopf, Nicklaus Tournament and Norman

These Courses are in normal summer condition and will stay on their original aerification schedules.

We all hope you are having a nice summer!

Jon D. Maddern, CGCS
Director of Agronomy

The Club at PGA WEST  |  55-955 PGA Blvd  |  La Quinta, CA 92253  |  (760) 564-7111