Zack Stephens

Golf Course Superintendent
Cascata Golf Club
GCSAA Class A

[Zack Stephens @DesertTurfSuper]

This week, the cascata team killed it! Fairways have been fully prepped and are ready for seed. Tees have been prepped and seeded ready for water. Monday begins our month long closure to finish overseed and also renovate a couple of greens. #turfgrassmanagementinthedesert

[Zack Stephens @DesertTurfSuper]

@mfdonahue @sincitygcsa @BaliHaiGC We're ready!

[Zack Stephens @DesertTurfSuper]

@runnin_boiler14 Or we could fix it right and cultivate them on a regular basis like your suppose too!
Never seen black layer like this in a bunker, which tells me cultivation practices were non-existent in the past.
#definitionofinsanity
#makingitright
#golfcoursemaintenance

[Zack Stephens @DesertTurfSuper]

This week, we focused on some long overdue bunker drainage issues. All 12 bunkers that were an issue are now free flowing and no longer a concern. The depth of some of these drain lines was insane.
#golfcoursemaintenance #turfgrassmanagement #golfcoursesuperintendent

[Zack Stephens @DesertTurfSuper]

@TurfLukeWKU @Anthony_WCT Appreciate the invite, Luke!

[Zack Stephens @DesertTurfSuper]

Went down to Escondido to see @Anthony_WCT to put eyes on the Dominator bentgrass field. After collecting samples and getting a tour of the farm, it was time to turn and burn back to Vegas. Anthony, I appreciate the hospitality! Exciting things happening in a couple of weeks.

[Zack Stephens @DesertTurfSuper]

Wrapped up our first round of deep tining today with our new setup! The response from the turf is remarkable. 8" x 1/2" holes healing in roughly 4-5 days. Clipping yields have increased 23% without any additional inputs. Just happy, healthy turf! T-minus 3 weeks for round 2.

[Zack Stephens @DesertTurfSuper]

Fairway,approach, and collar aerification completed! Done in 3 days, ahead of play. A couple of 3am starts for myself to get out ahead was fun and cool. The team of guys assigned to this task rose to the challenge and smashed it! #turfgrassmanagementinthedesert
#turflife

[Zack Stephens @DesertTurfSuper]

Aerification week has arrived! The team had a good first day, 5 fairways, 13 collars/apps, and 3 holes of rough all completed ahead of play. #turfgrassmanagementinthedesert #turflife #golfcoursemaintenance

[Zack Stephens @DesertTurfSuper]

10-day update on last week's project. Beastly roots developing on the 419 Bermuda and everything is mending up extremely well! A dose of .25lb of plant crack, AKA 21-0-0 every 4 days is helping. #1 green that has been known to struggle is looking/performing well thus far!

[Zack Stephens @DesertTurfSuper]

@victor18reyes Time flies when you love what you do!

[Zack Stephens @DesertTurfSuper]

This week,we tackled an area that has been a problem for years! After excavating roughly 8" 's of extremely compacted desert soil. We filled the cavity with course sand. Capped w/ 419 sod. More pics in comments #turflife #turfgrassmanagementinthedesert #definitionofinsanity

[Zack Stephens @DesertTurfSuper]

Ohh and on the afternoon cruise, I saw this little guy enjoying a snack on the driving range with the rest of the herd. Loving all the wildlife out here, it's incredible.

[Zack Stephens @DesertTurfSuper]

Also, throughout the week!
-Roots on greens are looking good, and more work is to be done but not bad going into summer.
-Bunker edging and detailing on point.
-Irrigation audit underway, NOT what you want to see. 🤦🏿‍♂️ Fresh nozzles going out.
-Flower change out also completed.

[Zack Stephens @DesertTurfSuper]

Bets placed and feeling confident!

[Zack Stephens @DesertTurfSuper]

@TPCPG Not fun! We were in that same situation last week, with a 24" mainline break. Adapt and overcome! Greens near a water source we pumped from those sources. Otherwise, it was 1 tote at a time.

[Zack Stephens @DesertTurfSuper]

@petewmorris That wouldn't be a bad thing! Hahaha, fixing 2 of those is enough!

[Zack Stephens @DesertTurfSuper]

What a week! Monday morning, while out handwatering greens we lost all pressure. Upon investigation we found a large break that ended up being another 24" main. The entire 20-foot stick split and we installed 24' with only 36 hrs of downtime. #golfcoursemaintenance #turflife

[Zack Stephens @DesertTurfSuper]

@underhillcorp Thanks! I'm just built differently! hahaha!

[Zack Stephens @DesertTurfSuper]

Adapt and overcome! While the irrigation system was down, we had to come up with a way to still water greens. Greens near a water source we simply pumped from there. Others were watered 1 tote at a time. #golfcoursesuperintendent #turfgrassmanagementinthedesert #turflife

[Zack Stephens @DesertTurfSuper]

@petewmorris a mutual acquaintance that installs/repairs lines of this size and has connections for parts. Last time we didn't need their services but they were my first call this go around. Going forward, we will have an inventory of said parts. We'll be ready next time w/12 hrs of downtime.

[Zack Stephens @DesertTurfSuper]

@petewmorris Thanks, Pete! A month and a half prior to this break, we had the same repair about a 1/4 mile away. During that repair, we sourced the parts out selves. This included me driving to California to pick up couples in riverside. But I did get connected with a contractor through....