August 31, 2021
Your Friends Board and Advisors are excited to share this edition in which we share updates about the continuous positive change to the course, our exciting opening event, a recap of our August Town meeting, and a golfing perk called Troon Rewards.
What a Difference a Month Makes
Arizona golf courses overseed their grass to transition through different seasons and climate temperatures for great playing conditions year around. Bermuda survives our hot summers while Rye thrives in our cooler winters. Bermuda is a fast-growing, heat-tolerant, and robust variety of grass that can lay dormant for 2-3 years.
The Town of Oro Valley and Indigo had no plans to overseed the Pusch Ridge golf course with Bermuda this past spring, avoiding a second summer of watering. The Bermuda has been revived after June’s record heat, helped by some fertilizer and the 4th wettest monsoon on record (so far). It now covers most of what was barren fairway only a month ago (compare July and August aerial orthomosaic photos shown above).
Mother nature has blessed us with a remarkable base of Bermuda approaching the fall overseeding with Rye. Having Rye supported by an underlayer of Bermuda improves fairway playability because balls sit higher, and because Bermuda uses 25% to 35% less water than Rye, our fairways can be sustained with less watering through the winter. What a difference a month makes.
Follow this link to view a fairway drone flyover https://youtu.be/Xg42G48RUjQ taken on August 17th.
Opening Day – Volunteers Needed!
Thank you all for actively engaging with our group to prepare, promote, and support the Pusch Ridge Golf Course's reopening this fall.
As we have shared, the Town of Oro Valley and its golf operator, Indigo Golf Partners, are enthusiastically working to prepare the course for play and initiating many promotional efforts to assure the course is successful. In acknowledgment of our partnership, the Town has offered Friends of Pusch Ridge Golf (FOPRG) the opportunity to play the course on October 30, two days before the official opening.
We plan to organize a golfing and social event for our Friends that day. Initial plans are to offer two golf scrambles, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, with a luncheon celebration in between the scrambles. We will be working with the El Conquistador Resort to host the social at the Last Territory, adjacent to the golf course. We hope to have 108 golfers and at least 200 Friends at the social. We will invite the media and town officials to attend as well.
To make this event successful, we need Friends volunteers to assist with planning, promotion, and coordination of the activities. If you can help, please contact Tony D’Angelo (FOPRG President) at breakthrough50@me.com or call him at 303-472-4690.
We believe this event will create the exposure and momentum for a successful season of operation. Thank you for helping.
Town/Indigo August 19th Meeting Recap
On August 19, 2021 Friends met with representatives of the Town of Oro Valley and Indigo Golf to get updates on the status of the golf course and upcoming marketing efforts. Over 27 people Zoomed in on the meeting. After the Town/Indigo presented their updates, there was a Q&A session with the Friends. The meeting proved to be a huge success as both parties collaborated and exchanged great ideas and information.
Representatives of the Town/Indigo that presented included:
· Chris Cornelison, Asst. Town Manager
· Kristy Diaz-Trahan, Dir. Parks & Rec
· Bernie Eaton, GM ElCon Country Club, Indigo
Friends With Benefits –Troon Rewards!
Friends of Pusch Ridge Golf (who joined us before August 22nd) were recently e-mailed a fantastic invite and benefit from Troon! Troon acquired Indigo Golf Partners in January 2021, formally Billy Casper Golf under the expert leadership of Bernie Eaton. Bernie’s team also manages the El Conquistador Golf Courses at the Oro Valley Community Center.
The message gave readers information about being automatically registered for Troon Rewards. They were provided a temporary password and a new rewards number. It came from no-reply@troon.com. Just in case you missed this incredible offer or perhaps your junk/spam folder was the recipient, we wanted to make sure you were “in the know!”
Did you sign-up with the Friends after Aug 22nd? If so, we invite you to register for Troon Rewards by visiting https://www.troon.com/troon-golf-rewards-program/ and click on the ‘Sign Up Today!’ This site will give you a list of benefits, how Troon Rewards work, how to earn points and how to get all kinds of free things!
How does the Troon Rewards connect to Friends of Pusch Ridge? One of our key strategic goals is to generate more rounds of play at Pusch Ridge.
Every round you and your other Friends play will help the course play grow and you’ll earn Troon points… Golf, Friends, Free Stuff, Fun… WOW!
Remember – Friends Don’t Let Friends Golf Alone!!
We're Growing - But NOT There Yet!
As of August 30, 2021 we have grown to 300 Friends!
Our goal is 500 by October 1, 2021
Help us spread the word and invite YOUR friend to join us!
Direct them to: https://www.friendsofpuschridgegolf.org/join