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Echo Mesa golf course work ahead of schedule; TifTuf turf tested, reopening set for Oct. 21
Summary
Sun City West staff said irrigation and landscaping at Echo Mesa are ahead of schedule, a 2.5-acre TifTuf Bermuda test is showing early growth, overseeding is planned for October and the course is scheduled to reopen Tuesday, Oct. 21. Planning is under way for a similar Stardust project in 2027.
Echo Mesa’s irrigation and desert landscaping work is running ahead of schedule, and staff said the course will reopen Tuesday, Oct. 21. Todd Patty, environmental services manager for Sun City West, told a community video update that irrigation installation was finished earlier than planned and that overseeding prep will begin at the end of September with seed drops in October.
The timing matters because the closure affects members who play Echo Mesa and because the work includes a large trial of a drought-tolerant turf variety. "We're about, we're about a month ahead of schedule on this project," Patty said, describing a project that had been scheduled for irrigation completion on Aug. 29 and desert landscaping in late September.
Sun City West staff described several operational details: the crew will fine-tune mainline trenches and return to sod any areas that need it after plant installation, and overseeding preparations will start at the end of September with seeding, weather permitting, in October. Patty said the plan is to reopen Echo Mesa on Tuesday, Oct. 21.
The project includes a roughly 2.5-acre planting of the TifTuf Bermuda variety. Steven (identified in the video as a Sun City West staff member) said the community is testing that turf and may expand its use to the Stardust course if results are favorable. Patty said the TifTuf stolons have been on the ground about 16 days and already show growth; the crew has applied one fertilizer treatment and is awaiting rain and higher humidity to accelerate rooting and spread. He also said the Number 9 fairway and that green complex were used earlier as a test area. "We fertilized it once, which is gonna give it a little bit of boost," Patty said.
Staff said the TifTuf trial areas will not be overseeded this fall; instead, they will be allowed to go dormant because the variety tends to enter and exit dormancy later than other Bermudas and should green up earlier in spring. The video noted that Stardust is in "phase 1" of mapping and planning, and that in 2027 the Stardust project would include an irrigation upgrade and turf reduction similar to what Echo Mesa received.
While Echo Mesa remains closed for this work, staff encouraged members to use the other Sun City West courses, which they said remain open and in good condition. Both speakers praised the grounds crew for working in difficult heat to keep courses playable and attractive.
No formal motions, votes or regulatory approvals were announced in the video; the update presented project timing, operational steps and testing outcomes as staff plans rather than final agency actions.
