What’s New In Las Campanas Golf

We have had an exciting weekend of activity here at the Club at Las Campanas, with our opening Foursome Kickoff in the books, we are looking forward to even more action this coming week! Between 4 Hole Ladies, Play with the Pros, Sunday Couples Cup, Free Clinic Day and TaylorMade Demo Day, we have something for all the Las Campanas golf members over the next 7 days. 

Rule of the Week – Immovable Obstructions; there are a variety of locations throughout both of our golf courses here at Las Campanas where you will see this scenario, including cart paths, irrigation boxes and drainage ditches on #16 SS Arroyo. The following video link will explain the proper way to take relief.  USGA VIDEO

Meet & Greet w/ Matt Smith – Please join Head of Instruction, Matt Smith in the Las Campanas Golf Performance Center on Friday, May 20th from 4:30 – 6:00 pm. In addition to mingling, we will cover all upcoming programming for the season here at Las Campanas, discuss Matt’s teaching philosophies and answer any questions you may have. We hope you will join us! You may sign-up in the Las Campanas golf shop.

Unlimited Cart Privileges – Recently, the Las Campanas Golf Committee and Board approved an unlimited golf cart package. If you are interested in purchasing a package, the cost for the first family member is $1500 annually. Second family member price is reduced to $750 annually. As we have already begun the season, any 2016 cart fees will be returned and credited towards your Unlimited Cart packages. To sign-up please contact Kyle Capps at kcapps@clublc.com

Free Clinic Day – Our first of three free clinic days will be held on Saturday, May 21st at the Las Campanas Practice Park. Clinics will run from 8:00 to noon and will cover fundamentals of the swing, drivers/hybrids, putting and short game. There is truly something for everyone! Sign-up in the Las Campanas golf shop for a complimentary clinic with your Professional Staff.

TaylorMade Demo Day  – Saturday, May 21st from 11:00 am to 4:00 pm the Professional Staff and representatives from TaylorMade will be at the Las Campanas Practice Park with all the latest and great including M1 and M2 irons, hybrids, woods and drivers. We hope you will come out and enjoy testing some new product with us! Custom fitting is available at no charge.

PGM Intern Arrivals – Over the next several days all of our seasonal Professional Golf Management interns will be arriving to Santa Fe. We have a great team lined up for the 2016 season! Introductions are as follows;

Daniel Vanill, Rochester, NY – 3 Month Intern – Campbell University
Marko Lloyd, New Braunfels, TX – 3 Month Intern – Sam Houston State
Matt McKovich, Yucaipa, CA – 3 Month Intern – New Mexico State
Steven Cabanday, Mukilteo, WA – 3 Month Intern – New Mexico State
Keegan Moore, Alamo, CA – 3 Month Intern – New Mexico State
John Vasquez, Las Cruces, NM – 6 Month Intern – New Mexico State
Stephen Bird, Pleasonton, CA – Seasonal Assistant – New Mexico State
Torreon Grill at The Las Campanas Clubhouse Open for the Season – The Torreon will be serving Breakfast burritos & sandwiches beginning at 9:00 am, seven days a week throughout the Summer. The lunch menu will be available from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm. The Hacienda Dining Room in The Clubhouse will be open Wednesday to Sunday for Lunch and Dinner and Sunday Brunch at 10:00am

Annual Bluegrass (aka Poa Annua) status on the Sunrise and Sunset greens – This is Annual Bluegrass season and it has returned on the greens of both courses.  It is currently in its seeding cycle and during this time is not only unsightly, but makes for a very bumpy putting surface. Our current management plan to control the Annual Bluegrass includes chemical applications in the spring for seed head suppression and during the growing season we apply chemicals to suppress growth.  The timing of spring applications has to perfect for optimal impact.  Unfortunately, we are in our third year of applying the spring application and have only seen marginal success.  The seed head production of Annual Bluegrass is a short period and we expect to see a suppression of the Annual Bluegrass by mid June.There are several methods of controlling the Annual Bluegrass.  Our control method is aimed at managing growth until the weather warms and swings the growing advantage to the Bent Grass.  The other control methods require physical removal of the Poa with chemicals, but these approaches are very disruptive to play with no assurance the Annual Bluegrass will not return.  Generally, during the main golf season our greens play very well despite the Annual Bluegrass.  We continue to monitor the spread of the Annual Bluegrass and the effects of our treatment plan.  We are also searching for new and improved treatment technologies to manage the Annual Bluegrass and will change our treatment approach if we can find a method that is superior to our current method.  If you have questions about the Annual Bluegrass and our treatment plan, please call Tom Egelhoff.

Status of Pro-Angle bunkers on the Sunset Golf Course – Over the winter we have developed a layer of algae in some of the new Pro-Angle bunkers on the Sunset Golf Course.  This was in part caused by no surface disruption and low oxygen levels at the surface of the sand.  When we closed the course in the fall the bunkers went unraked for nearly four months.  We feel that this condition is temporary and we have already begun the process of turning over the surface of the bunkers which should greatly reduce the greenish color and reduce the surface firmness. Going forward, we will modify our winter management practices of the bunkers to avoid this condition next year.

We look forward to having you all back in town over the coming weeks. Please let us know if there is anything we can do to assist prior to your arrival.

Best Regards,

Kyle Capps, PGA
Head Golf Professional