GROUNDS COMMITTEE
Ranch in the left rough near the wash….it has not fared well. Zoysia may be a viable future option if new strains are developed, if we were to someday face significant water restrictions or if we decided not to overseed (a forbidden topic for most of us, who love the aesthetic and playability advantages of overseeded rye), but for now, it’s not a great option. So far, the only course in our area that has committed to a conversion to Zoysia is Fire Rock, in Fountain Hills. They’re going through the conversion right now, and they do not plan to do any overseeding with a green winter grass. Another local course, Desert Highlands, is experimenting with Zoysia, but word is that they are not convinced. When we re-do our irrigation systems several years into in the future, then- current grass technologies and water restrictions will be evaluated for possible re-grassing, but in the meantime, the basic summary is that our current grasses at Tonto are generally well-suited to our environment and year-round playability.
WHY DON’T WE TRY.....? Tonto members who recently tuned in to watch Scottie Sheffler’s big Tour Championship win at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta probably heard frequent mention of the wonderful playing surfaces provided by the “Zorro” Zoysia grass fairways, rough and green surrounds and the TifEagle Bermuda greens. After all the accolades heaped on East Lake, it’s inevitable that some will ask, “Why don’t we try that at Tonto?” The answer comes in two parts: First, when we re-open the Ranch course in late October, the base grass under all our overseeded greens (putting green, chipping green and both golf courses) will be the same TifEagle Bermuda that was praised so heavily at East Lake. It’s a tried and true turf grass that is very heat tolerant AND handles annual overseeding well. Second, according to our Director of Agronomy (Travis), our current consulting architect Mike Gogel and numerous articles on the topic, Zoysia for fairways, roughs and surrounds is a completely different animal. Briefly, it is not as drought tolerant as Bermuda grass, it goes dormant (and brown) in the winter, and (most importantly) it does not respond well to annual over-seeding. These conclusions have been borne out by a small experimental patch of Zoysia that was planted a few years ago on 13
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