This dwarf Bermuda grass is a hot desert trend, and a famous California course has made the switch

Trends at Coachella Valley golf courses spring up every three or four years. Some fade away and some stick around for a while.

The hottest trend at desert golf courses at the moment, one that seems to be sticking around, is MiniVerde. The dwarf Bermuda grass with a relatively dark color has become popular as a new greens surface at many desert facilities.

Add to that list the Pate Course at Rancho La Quinta Country Club. Director of Agronomy Christopher Erickson, in just his first year at Rancho La Quinta, oversaw a renovation of the 24-year-old Pate Course that included transitioning all 18 greens on the course from Tifdwarf Bermuda to MiniVerde.

“I have a very high level of comfort managing MiniVerde in Texas at multiple properties,” Erickson said. “I have always liked it. I have always liked the color of it. And I have always liked the fact that the grain is so much more minimal than TifEagle.”

Another advantage of MiniVerde is that it often doesn’t require overseeding to keep its color in the winter. Rancho La Quinta won’t overseed the Pate greens this year, wanting the MiniVerde to establish itself before being introduced to cool-weather grasses next year.

Mike Williams, chairman of the golf committee at Rancho La Quinta, said the membership at the facility is excited by the change.

“The more Chris educated us on it, the more we bought in,” Williams said. “We are all following him because he knows what he is doing. We can tell. The one thing people are wondering about is if we are going to overseed. We are not going to overseed this year. He wants this to have a year, and make sure this is not competing with an overseed. We are kind of curious what’s going to happen. But everyone is so excited we have already decided we want to do this over on the Jones Course next summer.”

The process includes stripping off two inches of existing organic materials and then blending more leftover materials with new organics to help the MiniVerde establish roots. In addition, Erickson and his staff took the opportunity to expand the 18 greens back to their original sizes and contours. Erickson says the contours are now within a quarter of an inch of the original plans from 2000.

Bunker sand dazzles

Changing grasses on one of the two golf courses at Rancho La Quinta was just part of the work at the La Quinta property this summer. The most obvious change was swapping out the sand in all 89 bunkers on the Pate Course to Augusta White, a bright…