From Bermuda to rye, in desert heat

Golf is the hottest participation sport in the country right now and nowhere hotter — on the thermometer and on the course — than the greater Scottsdale area.

With seven golf courses to choose from, the members of Desert Mountain are never at a loss for chances to tee it up. This fall, thanks to some changes in the grasses used and maintenance procedures, those courses are greener, more environmentally friendly and offer more playing experiences than ever.

“All seven of our courses are open and green from November 1 to June 1, which is when the most members are here and the weather is best,” said Todd Bohn, Desert Mountain’s new director of agronomy. “We asked the question, ‘Would our members rather play golf in October or August?’ We switched some of our courses to cool-season grasses so they can play all year-round on the best possible conditions.”

This is possible, in part, due to Desert Mountain’s elevation and unique atmospheric conditions. Additionally, all turf is irrigated with reclaimed water.

To accomplish that, some of the courses have been re-grassed while others stayed as they were. This creates greater variety while allowing alterations to the maintenance schedule, so more courses are open and green at the best times.

“Until two years ago, all our courses had Bermudagrass fairways and tees, which had to be overseeded in the fall,” Bohn said. “They were all good at the same time, but they also had to go through transition at the same time. By changing grasses, we can make them peak on a varied schedule that’s better for our members.”

The changes began during the Renegade course renovation in 2019 and with the debut of the par-3 Seven Desert Mountain.

“Both have fairways of bentgrass, which is a cool-season grass,” Bohn said. “When we saw they were successful, we converted two of the other Nicklaus courses, Apache and Chiricahua, to another cool-season grass, rye. The results have been terrific.”

The other Nicklaus courses — Geronimo, Cochise and Outlaw — feature Bermudagrass, which is overseeded with rye in the summer.

“With this schedule, all the courses are green and open from November 1 to June 1,” Bohn said. “All the courses have to close at some point for two months, but now you can walk on Desert Mountain any month of the year and play on multiple green, high-quality courses.”

Not surprisingly, both rounds played and new memberships are up.

“Due to COVID-19, we played more rounds than ever May through August,” Bohn said. “We were able to do that because the courses didn’t have to transition and they were in better condition.”

The variety of grasses gives Desert Mountain members another bonus, Bohn said. “They can come to Arizona and play all the grasses they’ll find in the other 49 states. We have the same grasses as New England, Chicago, Oregon, Florida and Texas. And they can pick a course that best suits their game, so if they like to hit a 9-wood and need a surface with more fluff, they can find it.

“We want to provide more green golf for our members and we don’t want to spend more. This system checks all the green boxes.”