GROUNDS COMMITTEE
TONTO GOES ELECTRIC Many of our year-rounders have probably noticed a little less small engine noise on the compound recently. As the utility carts used by our maintenance staff reach the end of their lives, we’ve begun replacing them with new Toro electric utility carts powered by lithium-ion batteries. A combination of gasoline savings and government rebates have made the conversion to electric vehicles more economical, and we now have 5 of them with 2 more on order. So far, they appear to be able to match almost all our performance requirements as well as the gasoline vehicles they’re replacing. The electric conversion doesn’t stop there, as we also have several battery-powered chain saws and blowers in our equipment line-up. WATER SAVINGS In a recent Turf Talk, we mentioned the acquisition of the sensors and software for a system called TurfRad, which is designed to provide data that will help us target our irrigation water more accurately and, ideally, reduce our water consumption.Several times per week, a utility cart carrying the sensors races around the golf courses (you have to see it to believe how fast they’re able to go!), taking readings of soil moisture 4 inches below the surface at a rate of 7 readings per second. Once back in the maintenance 6
yard, the data is automatically downloaded to the TurfRad system which adjusts our irrigation programming to account for any areas that are too dry or too wet. We’re already seeing both water savings and playability improvements and expect these improvements to continue as we gain more experience with the system and move into our heavy water usage periods. TURF TRANSITION As we move back onto the Peaks course this week, our players will continue to see some of the spotty turf conditions typical of the annual “transition” period. During this period, our Bermuda grass fights its way out of winter dormancy and gradually fills in across the areas that were overseeded with rye during the winter. While the Peaks transition looks to be a little behind the Ranch this year, both continue to show significant improvements over previous years and on par or better than most other overseeded courses in the Valley. OBITUARY Unfortunately, the crooked old single-stalk Ironwood tree just behind the 14 Peaks green finally succumbed to the steady diet of water that resulted from its location so close to the green. The badly split trunk and roots were removed about a week ago and have been replaced with a grass depression (not quite deep enough to be
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