It’s hard to believe we’ve already made it to September! Throughout the summer, our team has been working hard to keep the courses healthy and alive (its hot here), applying heavy morning irrigation to create the warm, humid environment Bermudagrass needs to spread and fill in ahead of overseed. The summer is mainly healing and preparation for the winter and our winter overseed. With the arrival of our (somewhat late) monsoons and higher humidity, we’re were able to start cutting back on water now. However in a couple weeks, we go the opposite extreme and begin drying the courses to push the Bermudagrass into dormancy before transitioning to our winter grasses. Its an annual battle of two completely different grasses none which are native to Arizona, but that is Desert Golf for you!

The Vistas Course will close for overseeding from September 29 through October 17, and the Lakes Course will close from October 13 through October 31. Both courses will officially reopen on November 1. You’ll notice a short overlap in these dates—something we always try to minimize. However, mid-October provides the best weather window for successful overseed, and aligning both courses as close to that period as possible gives us the strongest chance for great results. While our goal is to keep the overlap to only five days each year, the weather can be unpredictable and sometimes forces adjustments as it did last season. If we seed when it is too hot, it will just be a waste and if we wait to long it will take to long to grow. It is like threading a needle.

During this short window, the Thursday RAZZ group will once again host their annual Prescott Outing, open to all members and guests (details at the end of this email). October also marks the start of ticket sales for our annual winter concert—information can also be found below. With the monsoons starting to wind down, all we need now is for temperatures to dip below 100 before September 29. Fingers crossed!