Golf is the hottest participation sport in the country right now and nowhere hotter — on the thermometer and on the course — than the greater Scottsdale area.

With seven golf courses to choose from, the members of Desert Mountain are never at a loss for chances to tee it up. This fall, thanks to some changes in the grasses used and maintenance procedures, those courses are greener, more environmentally friendly and offer more playing experiences than ever.

“All seven of our courses are open and green from November 1 to June 1, which is when the most members are here and the weather is best,” said Todd Bohn, Desert Mountain’s new director of agronomy. “We asked the question, ‘Would our members rather play golf in October or August?’ We switched some of our courses to cool-season grasses so they can play all year-round on the best possible conditions.”

This is possible, in part, due to Desert Mountain’s elevation and unique atmospheric conditions. Additionally, all turf is irrigated with reclaimed water.

To accomplish that, some of the courses have been re-grassed while others stayed as they were. This creates greater variety while allowing alterations to the maintenance schedule, so more courses are open and green at the best times.

“Until two years ago, all our courses had Bermudagrass fairways and tees, which had to be overseeded in the fall,” Bohn said. “They were all good at the same time, but they also had to go through transition at the same time. By changing grasses, we can make them peak on a varied schedule that’s better for our members.”

The changes began during the Renegade course renovation in 2019 and with the debut of the par-3 Seven Desert Mountain.

“Both have fairways of bentgrass, which is a cool-season grass,” Bohn said. “When we saw they were successful, we converted two of the other Nicklaus courses, Apache and Chiricahua, to another cool-season grass, rye. The results have been terrific.”

The other Nicklaus courses — Geronimo, Cochise and Outlaw — feature Bermudagrass, which is overseeded with rye in the summer.

“With this schedule, all the courses are green and open from November 1 to June 1,” Bohn said. “All the courses have to close at some point for two months, but now you can walk on Desert Mountain any month of the year and play on multiple green, high-quality courses.”

Not surprisingly, both rounds played and new memberships are up.

“Due to COVID-19, we played more rounds than ever May through August,” Bohn said. “We were able to do that because the courses didn’t have to transition and they were in better condition.”

The variety of grasses gives Desert Mountain members another bonus, Bohn said. “They can come to Arizona and play all the grasses they’ll find in the other 49 states. We have the same grasses as New England, Chicago, Oregon, Florida and Texas. And they can pick a course that best suits their game, so if they like to hit a 9-wood and need a surface with more fluff, they can find it.

“We want to provide more green golf for our members and we don’t want to spend more. This system checks all the green boxes.”

KemperSports announced it has acquired Corte Bella Golf Club in Sun City West, Arizona. With this acquisition, Corte Bella becomes the 17th club in KemperSports’ private club portfolio. The company has owned and operated a host of private residential golf clubs over its 40-year history, including most notably The Governors Club in Tennessee and Royal Melbourne Country Club in Illinois. KemperSports will look to enhance the golf and club experience at Corte Bella and grow its membership base.

Corte Bella Golf Club opened in 2004 and is nestled within a 1,650-home active adult (45-plus) private gated community. Designed by Greg Nash, the 191-acre, 18-hole layout plays just over 7,000 yards from the back tees and features multiple tee areas, wide fairways and inviting, large greens that are reminiscent of resort-style courses in the area. The facility includes a 6,500-square-foot clubhouse, with a fully appointed golf shop, locker room, grill operation and expansive patio area that overlooks a 23-station driving range.

As part of its goal to expand the membership, KemperSports plans to improve course conditions and enhance the outdoor social spaces, bringing additional community events and live entertainment to the club.

“Corte Bella offers a premier golf experience in a prime location with a strong and committed membership,” KemperSports CEO Steve Skinner said. “We look forward to working with the Corte Bella Country Club Association to take the club to the next level in its member and guest experience.”

Corte Bella Golf Club joins Chandler’s 36-hole Bear Creek Golf Complex as the second Arizona facility within KemperSports’ portfolio and marks the company’s continued commitment to expanding its footprint within the private club sector.

The GCSAA will seek data from superintendents regarding water use and conservation practices to support the profession and industry as part of the on-going efforts to maintain necessary golf course management resources.

To collect the data, an in-depth questionnaire will be sent electronically to superintendents at approximately 14,000 facilities. The water study is part of the third phase of GCSAA’s Golf Course Environmental Profile survey program, which will consist of three surveys that are funded by the GCSAA Foundation.

Since 2006, the data collected has enabled GCSAA to help members succeed and support the golf industry. GCSAA needs representation from across the country from members, non-members and all facility types. Superintendents should look for an email from the National Golf Foundation, which is conducting the survey on behalf of the GCSAA, or find access on GCSAA’s website. The Golf Course Environmental Profile survey program will be administered by Mark Johnson, associate director of environmental programs for GCSAA.

The information will be analyzed independently by Dr. J. Bryan Unruh and Dr. Travis Shaddox. All superintendents should participate, and those who complete the surveys will receive 0.50 service points and be entered into drawings for prizes. 

“We need current data to best support the Best Management Practices Initiative used to advocate for the profession and industry as well as being able to measure change and trend analysis for the future,” said GCSAA President Mark Jordan, CGCS, natural resources leader at Westfield Country Club in Westfield Center, Ohio.

The results from the water use survey will be announced in 2022 and compared against numbers from the first phase in 2006 and the second phase in 2014.

“Data gathered from the previous GCEP surveys has proven invaluable during policy conversations with lawmakers and regulators,” said Chava McKeel, director of government affairs for GCSAA. “Environmental data is the backbone of all our advocacy efforts. Science and data should drive policymaking decisions affecting golf facilities.”

Other surveys will follow in 2022 with publications into 2023 on nutrient use and management practices, land use and environmental stewardship. All the topics will closely mirror the first two phases. In addition to the water survey, the nutrient survey next spring, and the property survey will launch in late summer or early fall of 2022. 

Here’s a different twist on budgeting: think about customer experiences before revenue or costs.

A superintendent turned general manager for the second time in his career explains.

“I just think club,” says Carlos Arraya, the general manager/COO at Bellerive Country Club near St. Louis, Missouri, site of the 2018 PGA Championship. “Revenue is a piece, but my job isn’t to worry about the revenue. My job is to worry about the people who drive that. If I can help them create programming experiences for the people who come to the club, then that’s going to drive revenue.”

Bellerive officially appointed Arraya as its general manager/COO this past summer. Before the promotion, Arraya handled a dual role, serving as the club’s superintendent and assistant general manager. One of his philosophies involves delegating revenue-driving responsibilities to department heads, including superintendent Nick White.

“The hardest thing for a superintendent is to see the big picture,” says Arraya, whose résumé also includes a stint as the general manager at Hawk’s Nest Golf Club in Vero Beach, Florida. “Sometimes a superintendent thinks, ‘Hey, I want X.’ Make sure you understand how that’s connected to the club. Too many times it’s focused on requests for me, whether it’s capital or operations. You have to think about how it impacts the club. If you show some sort of ROI to the members, you will be better received.

“The really good business leaders that we have who work with me are thinking about how they can all connect it to the club and how they can help support each other. That’s the lesson that should be shared with superintendents as they put together a budget: How do you ultimately improve experience? It’s not about money. People come to me and say, ‘You have this budget and you’re at Bellerive.’ It doesn’t matter. I think it’s more critical at a smaller-scale operation because the margins are so much tighter. If you are able to connect the value to it, you can probably get a better response as opposed to saying, ‘Here’s my budget, it’s gone up 10 percent because labor is up.’ Sorry. That’s not the approach. Too many times we talk about the increase and we don’t talk about the return.”

Wading through variables such as rising labor and product costs, worker shortages and supply-chain interruptions has created budgeting conundrums for everybody in the golf industry. The average non-capital maintenance budget was $1.044 million this year, according to Golf Course Industry’s State of the Industry report. That average will likely be higher in 2022.

“I told all the department heads, focus on what you need and separate that,” says Arraya, alluding to the rising costs of seemingly everything. “Build a budget with no increase. Build it on the labor side flat and then tell the narrative and share the story: There’s no way we are going to be able to continue the member experience if we don’t make a market adjustment. You start preparing for that and then you build the budget separately. You always have to be educating and you always have to control your own narrative if you want to be successful in the budget process. If you only focus on it at the end of the year, you’re going to end up a creek. The rapids are always harder to paddle when you are going upstream and you haven’t done anything to prepare for it.”

Guy Cipriano is Golf Course Industry’s editor-in-chief.