El Rio golf course cutting rates

The city chose to eschew planting winter rye to optimize the environment for the beleaguered Bermuda at the course, said Mike Hayes, deputy director for the city's golf operations.

"For golfers in Tucson, it's probably been a long time since they played a course that was not overseeded with winter rye," Hayes said. "What we want to make clear is that the Bermuda is not dead, it's just dormant. And rather than overseed with rye like we did last year, we didn't want to do anything to impede the Bermuda in the spring."

The highest prices at El Rio will drop from $25 for nonresidents who walk 18 holes to $18, and from $35 to $28 for nonresidents who rent a golf cart, Hayes said. Residents qualify for a variety of lower rates, which also are decreasing Monday.

"The course is not up to its full potential, so we're not going to charge full price for people to play it," he said.

The course at 1400 W. Speedway was re-opened last month after a five-month closure brought about by a chemical mishap that kept grass from growing.

The course underwent a $2 million renovation last year, including a new irrigation system, remodeling of some holes, and practice tees for a First Tee Youth program.

Workers reseeded El Rio with Bermuda grass last summer, which was then seeded over with winter rye for the 2004-2005 winter season. Because the new Bermuda hadn't fully established, workers applied a herbicide called TranXit in June to kill off the winter rye in order to plant more Bermuda.

The winter rye died as planned.

So did much of the Bermuda.

A plant pathologist could not re-create the problem, leading some to believe that something other than TranXit had been applied. The pathologist recommended using activated charcoal to absorb excess herbicide. Grass sprouted in September, and grew in October, prompting the reopening of the course Nov. 4.

But less than a month later, bare splotches began appearing.

"I don't know too much about growing grass or herbicides, but I've never seen it this bad," said 63-year-old Bob Mendoza, who has played the course for nearly half a century and caddied there in the 1950s. "At least the greens were all right up until a couple of weeks ago, but now they're all dying out, too."

The course may not be as pretty as Tucson golfers are used to, but golfers from other areas are usually familiar with courses that aren't overseeded for winter color, Hayes said.

"Part of it is that ryes have gotten so good over the years that they're much stronger and living longer," Hayes said. "We could have overseeded again this year like we did last year and it would have been a lot prettier, but again, we didn't want to do anything that might hamper the Bermuda."

Mayor Bob Walkup recently played the course and came away with "some major concerns," said Walkup's chief of staff, Andrew Greenhill.

Ditto for City Councilman Jose Ibarra, in whose ward the course lies.

"It was like putting dirt on the No. 2 green," Ibarra said. "I wanted to experience it first-hand, not from just driving around but as a golfer would, and it's really frustrating to see it in that condition."

Ibarra said he was approached during his round by so many golfers who had complaints about the course that he only got in 12 or 13 holes.

"People are upset, and I don't blame them," he said. "I just found it really hard to understand how we could be charging full price when the course is just not up to par."

Greenhill said the city needs to keep the course open despite its lackluster condition.

"We don't want to close El Rio because that's a big hit to the revenue generated, and that hit would have to come from cuts or increases, so we're really trying to avoid that," he said. "But at the same time, it does seem to be unfair to be charging the same amount at El Rio as for a course in tiptop shape."

In another week, relief for area golfers will come with the reopening of another city-owned course — Silverbell at 3600 N. Silverbell Road — which has undergone $2.6 million in improvements, Hayes said.

"We're going to make a big effort to invite regular El Rio golfers out to Silverbell when that opens on the 19th, which will give them another West Side course in great condition to play on," Greenhill said. "But we also wanted to do something for the people who still want to play El Rio in less-than-adequate conditions."

Aficionados of the old Silverbell course will barely recognize its new incarnation, as workers moved 250,000 cubic yards of dirt to create 12 new holes and performed makeovers on the other six.

Dell Urich and Randolph: 600 S. Alvernon Way, 791-4161.

El Rio: 1400 W. Speedway, 791-4229.

Fred Enke: 8251 E. Irvington Road, 791-2539.

Silverbell: 3600 N. Silverbell Road, 791-5235 (reopens Dec. 19).