Arizona visit highlights month of June

With the movement of many states into Phase II of the coronavirus recovery, I was able to get back out to see some superintendents and industry professionals in Arizona during the week of June 15. 

A three-days trip to Scottsdale, Ariz,. was packed with visits, meetings, dinners, and other activities. Site visits included stops at Desert Mountain Golf Club, Desert Highlands Golf Club, Whisper Rock Golf Club and Blackstone Country Club. 

Desert Mountain is always bustling, and Director of Agronomy Shawn Emerson is a great supporter of the association with 17 staff current staff members who belong to GCSAA. Superintendent Alex Ward took me on a terrific tour of the recently renovated Renegade Course which used 007 MacKenzie Bentgrass on greens, fairways, and tees. While located at an elevation of 3,000 feet, maintaining a bentgrass golf course in Scottsdale is a tremendous challenge and one that Alex and the rest of his staff are successfully pulling off. The playing conditions simply rival the best that I have ever seen. 

I was also able to have lunch with Shawn and his staff including Kenton Brunson, Jim Key, Marc Snyder, and Rodney Sparks, as well as the gang from Stotz Equipment (John Deere). Thanks to Dylan Urton from Stotz for buying and the great hospitality. 

Following Desert Mountain, I took the quick drive down to see new Desert Highlands Superintendent Curtis Tyrrell.  Curtis is back in the desert after a long spell away including a stint at Medinah Country Club where he hosted the 2012 Ryder Cup. Curtis was just elected to the Cactus & Pine Board of Directors and is hard at work with the summer transition from rye to bermuda as well as putting together a maintenance plan for the numerous native areas located around the Nicklaus designed layout. 

The following day included a visit with Cactus & Pine President and Past GCSAA President and CEO Mark Woodward. Mark oversees the 36-hole facility which is home to many of Scottsdale’s PGA Tour professionals. Designed by Tom Fazio and Phil Mickelson, Whisper Rock is one of the country’s elite facilities, and Mark and staff do a tremendous job managing two courses that require PGA Tour conditions on a weekly basis during the golf season. The place just oozes of coolness. Mark is also renowned for his end of the day cleaning procedures which encompasses the entire maintenance facility with each staff member dedicated to a certain job. 

Following Whisper Rock, I ventured out to Dove Valley Ranch Golf Club which is run by Thompson Golf Group Director of Agronomy Matt Rusch. Matt played host to the Cactus & Pine Hack Attack skins game that afternoon and I was honored to be paired with him and his new assistant Ethan. The skins game had 56 Cactus & Pine members dueling it out for a little cash and fun was had by all. Matt was recently elected to the Cactus & Pine Board and along with running three golf courses, just purchased a new home which is keeping him busy. 

Before heading back to my hometown of Henderson, Nev.., I stopped on my way out to visit Blackstone Country Club Superintendent Andrew Hitchcock. Andrew serves as a Cactus & Pine Board Member (soon to be officer) and just recently had his first child.  Blackstone is managed by Troon Golf and Andrew with his staff of 14 (and his trusty dog) stay busy maintaining the rolling desert layout. He has worked extremely hard on his transition this year (3-4 weeks ahead of the previous season) and is looking at going through GCSAA’s Certification Program. 

In addition to the site visits, I had dinners with Cactus & Pine Chapter Executive Carmella Ruggiero, GCSAA Government Relations Committee member Rory Van Poucke, board members Marc Snyder and Joe Traficano, as well as Chris Cochran and Phil Smith from Nicklaus Design. 

Thanks to all of our Cactus & Pine members for the great hospitality during my trip to Scottsdale. They are doing a terrific job advancing the chapter and GCSAA’s initiatives and I look forward to working with them during the remainder of 2020.