High challenge in the high desert

Invoice Newton, a six-year GCSAA member, jumped with each ft into his first lead superintendent place at Coronado Nation Membership. Photograph courtesy of Invoice Newton

Editor’s notice: The next article was provided by Heritage Hyperlinks. All product claims, analysis cited and different info is immediately from the corporate.

It’s August in El Paso and Invoice Newton, a self-described “whole climate nerd,” continues to be adjusting to the humidity. Newton, the superintendent at Coronado Nation Membership, arrived right here in March, two months right into a inexperienced and bunker renovation led by architect Invoice Bergin. Newton’s earlier cease was Desert Mountain in Scottsdale, Arizona, the place the air is fairly dry. Right here on the Mexican border, 4,300 ft above sea stage, he anticipated atmospheric circumstances to be drier nonetheless.

“I’m bit shocked by the humidity: 60% some days. I had no thought it obtained that moist,” says Newton, a six-year GCSAA member. He was on website possibly six weeks earlier than Heritage Hyperlinks began seeding his new placing surfaces with a 777 bentgrass mix. “I’m fairly comfy in my position immediately. The extra mature greens are very comfy. However they obtained slightly puffy within the humidity after some storms got here by way of in July. Lightning releases nitrogen within the environment.”

Wait. What?

The brand new superintendent, nonetheless lower than 4 months into his first job overseeing a full-length golf course, explains that lightning permits nitrogen to be damaged aside within the environment. “When that occurs, it’s extra available to the plant. So, when that type of storm comes by way of, what’s the impact? Or somewhat, what do you need to do in response? Much less fertilization load,” Newton says.

In August 2023, Newton was tending to the par-3 No. 7 course at Desert Mountain Membership, some 435 miles to the west and a pair of,100 ft nearer to sea stage. About the identical time, his predecessor at Coronado CC was coping with broken greens following an agronomic mishap, based on Membership President Mark Cossentino.

George Shook, the membership’s normal supervisor, says that earlier than any of that unlucky enterprise went down, the outdated push-up greens “didn’t flush salts,” a long-term facet impact of the effluent Coronado makes use of to irrigate the course. The greens featured 5 – 6 totally different strains of poa annua. Actually, the Board of Administrators had already resolved to rebuild the placing surfaces earlier than they have been broken. “It was a form of silver lining,” Shook says.

In response, the membership retained Bergin’s architectural providers. Houston-based Heritage Hyperlinks gained the development bid and broke floor Jan. 15, 2024, beneath the course of Heritage challenge supervisor Sergio Cadengo.

“It was an incredible factor to witness,” says Cossentino. “They confirmed up right here with 20 guys and simply began flying round. The final inexperienced was planted June 3, and all 33 bunkers, all the brand new cart paths and tees, they did all that within the meantime.”

Newton dropped immediately into this hive of exercise. He by no means blinked.

“Invoice is aware of his agronomy. Very targeted and he introduced super vitality to this challenge,” says Shook. “The greens are maturing every day. The hope is that now we have the place prepared for our Capers Match in late September.

“There’s a whole lot of credit score to be shared on this challenge. Heritage Hyperlinks has been so skilled, such wonderful technicians and communicators. Invoice Bergin’s new greens have fully modified this golf course. And Invoice Newton by no means missed a beat. However I’ll say this, too: The members stayed with us all through this renovation. We hope to reward them. They’re completely excited with what they’ve seen in the best way of an end-product,” Shook says.

Coronado Nation Membership’s third gap.Pictures courtesy of Coronado Nation Membership

Enhancing the placing surfaces

Shook has been by way of the course-renovation course of earlier than on the Nation Membership of Cell with architect Jerry Pate and Wildcat Cliffs CC within the western North Carolina mountain city of Highlands. The architect on that job, accomplished in 2008, was Bergin.

“Throughout the interview course of, we obtained an actual robust sense for what the design points have been. The greens simply weren’t in any respect receptive,” says Oscar Rodriguez, a senior vp with Heritage Hyperlinks. “Very troublesome to putt on, with solely 2-3 pin placements per floor. You couldn’t see the ball land in sure spots, due to the adjustments in elevation.”

Rodriguez continues: “This was the primary time I’ve seen Invoice Bergin’s work firsthand, however hiring him was one of the best determination the membership might have made. And as soon as they did rent him, the membership obtained out of the best way and let him do his factor. That’s uncommon. So many instances a membership says to us, ‘The greens want revamping, however please GPS them and put them again precisely as they have been pre-construction.’ This was undoubtedly not that. They instructed the architect what they instructed me, and Invoice’s redesign addressed each problem. He modified the entire idea at Coronado — on a website that by no means made a single factor easy.”

Coronado CC was constructed within the late Fifties on the facet of mountain. Each Newton and Bergin name the parcel “wedge-shaped,” and it’s an apt description — the face of a pitching wedge is usually 46-48 levels. The property right here is steep, rocky, hemmed in by housing and largely treeless.

Bergin says the placing surfaces have been all the time the dominant design function, however they merely have been lower than the duty.

“A lot of the former inexperienced complexes ran off into the far reaches of the property,” Bergin explains. “That created problem, however not in a great way. We created extra room to accommodate lower than good golf.”

Bergin says the outcomes permit for far more flexibility and improved enjoying circumstances appropriate to the course’s excellent surroundings.

“Coronado sits on the foot of some lovely, a lot greater mountains. With Mexico to the south and New Mexico to the west, let me let you know: There are some beautiful sunsets each night,” Bergin recollects. “The entire course setting could be very interesting, visually, however the unique course didn’t have a lot. At present now we have inexperienced complexes with six pin positions minimal. Invoice Newton can set it up very powerful or very playable. The slopes on the outdated greens have been typically an excessive amount of for contemporary bents. Now the slopes match the inexperienced pace capabilities.”

Rodriguez and Shook every famous Bergin’s flexibility on website. For instance, the membership couldn’t afford to put in model new irrigation wall to wall — solely across the new inexperienced complexes.

“So, what occurs with that form of challenge is, you’re actually attempting to create worth for the cash spent,” Bergin explains. “And meaning you’re going to have restrictions. The bunkering at Coronado used to take a seat on high of the bottom. We needed the brand new bunkers minimize into the bottom, into the hillsides. So we labored across the current irrigation to try this. Out of 33 bunkers, I’d say we in all probability needed to hammer solely 5 of them into place. We needed to have the jackhammer on website to get the brand new irrigation in anyway. It labored out fairly nicely.”

The eighth gap at Coronado Nation Membership.

Leaping in with each ft

It’s by no means straightforward for a brand new course superintendent who exhibits up after the greens have failed, however Newton took the sensible strategy. “I’m at the hours of darkness about that state of affairs, and I wish to be,” he says.

In addition to, there was loads to maintain he and his crews occupied. Beginning March 14, 2024, there have been 25 acres of Tiff Tuff surrounds to sod and nurture, then 2.5 acres of 777 bentgrass greens to plant and preserve alive.

“Invoice took over proper the place the superintendent wants to actually earn his preserve,” Rodriguez says. “The opposite superintendent laid the groundwork when it got here to constructing the greens. When Invoice confirmed up, it was go time.”

Rodriguez doesn’t say that calmly. “The second we began sodding the surrounds, the winds picked up. Rising bent in a dry local weather, with excessive temperatures and excessive winds? We needed to get some covers,” he says. “Most initiatives — possibly new TifEagle greens, in a warm-season local weather — we’ll cowl these. However rising greens in El Paso, in summer time, with excessive winds? And also you’re asking the man to reopen in late September? That’s fairly powerful. However he labored his butt off. Made it work. I’m impressed by him.”

Previous to arriving in El Paso, Newton had by no means served as head superintendent at a full-length golf course. However greens are greens, and the 007 bentgrass he cultivated at Desert Mountain proved a strong basis for the 777 grow-in he inherited at Coronado.

What’s extra, as an assistant on the J.W. Marriott Camelback Resort, he had been concerned in a full-on bunker renovation. That obtained his consideration. When his neighbor superintendent at Desert Mountain led a giant renovation, a lightweight went on.

“I’ve all the time been occupied with that facet of issues,” Newton says. “Heritage is one of the best at what they do and it’s been wonderful to look at them work. Any points, huge or small, they get me on the horn. If I need assistance transferring palettes, they’re there to assist. Now that I’m actually in the midst of a renovation, I’ve been shocked and impressed by how mutual and symbiotic that relationship is.”

By late July, Newton stated the method, whereas not all the time clean, was profitable.

“We’ve had our challenges. We obtained many of the greens seeded in early Might however the others have been solely seeded [June 3],” Newton stated. “We have been simply catching up when the pump station crashed! We’ve had 90% restoration, which is fairly phenomenal. Even our weakest greens — we’ll be able to mow them subsequent week. When these greens obtained hit arduous, I obtained aggressive with the NPK, an enormous issue of their restoration. Kurt Nortman from Ameriturf and DCM’s merchandise — they’ve been an enormous assist.”

Coronado Nation Membership’s 14th gap.

A part of that success, he notes, comes from the course’s devoted crew. “We’ve already had some pythium and brown patch. And we’ve already punched them out,” Newton stated. “Our guys, I’m so pleased with them. They noticed the discoloration and the patterns, referred to as me and I got here operating on the market. Hit it with a Lexicon software, then a Banol software. The double whammy simply knocked it out.”

When Newton checked in once more in August, the mud was starting to clear. The Sept. 17 event opening didn’t appear so far-off, or notably outlandish. The day-to-day agronomy routines that every one superintendents crave have been starting to fall into place.

“This has obtained to be among the worst water within the U.S.,” Newton says, noting that it wasn’t so nice in Scottsdale. However there’s a distinction between handled water and the outright effluent he’s coping with at Coronado. “I buffer all my tanks with salicylic acid, to scale back alkalinity. It additionally helps cut back no matter’s already within the soil, to scale back the fight-or-flight impulse within the plant. I take advantage of it all over the place and the quantity of greenage I’ve seen come up is fairly extraordinary. Apart from that, we’re continuously aerifying and top-dressing.”

Trying again on the expertise to this point, Newton says he’s grateful to have the prospect to dive in, and for the assist he’s had alongside the best way.

“It’s been a wild journey, however I so respect the chance,” he says. “The membership and Heritage and Invoice Bergin have all had my again all through. You realize what they are saying: Your actions communicate for you. And now we have carried out, the crew most of all.”

Hal Phillips is the managing director of Mandarin Media and a frequent contributor to GCM.