Hermitage CC Golf Course Management

                                  Winter temperatures are officially back in full effect. It's hard to believe we almost hit 70 degrees last Thursday after looking at some of these incoming temperatures. Brace yourselves for what feels like the annual January freeze, as the upcoming cold snap is expected to bring some of the coldest temperatures of winter.  Monday morning we were greeted with a late Christmas present outside of our pump house. One of the couplers on our 14-inch intake line feeding the irrigation pumps had loosened, causing a leak on the pipe. Luckily, the irrigation system was still turned off, so the line was not pressurized.  The team was eager to begin excavating the surrounding soil to determine just how serious the issue was! Water was seeping around the 20 year old coupler that connects the two sections of pipe. Unfortunately, problems like this can occur with age. After...

As we welcomed 2026, we were also treated to some beautiful temperatures to start the year. We came just 6 degrees shy of breaking the 75-degree record high for this time of year. I think we were all grateful for a stretch of nice weather to kick off the new year on a fantastic note. The warmer conditions also gave us the opportunity to get back out on the courses and complete some regular maintenance throughout the week.  With the weather on our side, we were able to get a pre-emergent herbicide application around the putting surfaces. This marks the first of seven planned pre-emergent applications on the bermuda turf surrounding the greens. Around the bentgrass putting surfaces, we apply a product that is safer for bentgrass to avoid any potential injury. This also requires applying the product at a lower rate compared to the rest of the shortgrass areas on the courses. While we plan for seven applications around the greens, we will only be applying three applications, using a di...

 Oh, what a week it’s been, December has not been kind so far. We were hit with another light dusting of snow Sunday morning, forcing the courses to close yet again for a few days. While it was the least amount of snow we’ve seen all year, not even totaling an inch, it stuck around longer then our previous storms. Temperatures dropped into the teens Monday morning, effectively freezing what little snow we received.  We were able to open 18 of the 36 holes early in the week, and by Wednesday all 36 holes across the property were cleared of snow and open for play. Winter golf is officially in full swing! With temperatures well below freezing Monday morning, we wanted to give everyone a chance to warm up by taking out a few trees and feeding them into the chipper to the right side of 12 Manakin green.  After speaking with our neighbors along number 12, we were able to remove approximately 15 trees to allow more sunlight to reach the right side of the hole. The primary reason...

So far, winter weather has remained undefeated. We’ve now had 18 straight days where daytime highs failed to reach 50 degrees, and overnight lows have dipped below freezing on 17 of those days. Last Friday’s quick snowstorm cleared out just in time for mother nature to drop another five inches across the club, keeping the courses closed for most of the week.  Today, we were able to open the front nine of the Manakin course and the back nine of the Sabot course. With another round of winter weather forecasted for Sunday morning, we’re hoping to dodge the worst of it. Continued snowmelt today should allow us to have both courses open for the weekend. We’ve been waiting on the arrival of our ground poles for the new fans that will be installed around most of the remaining Manakin greens. The plan was to begin setting poles early this week, but the weather had other ideas. We’ll head out next week and get as many poles in the ground as conditions allow, with plans to continue the work ...

Post Thanksgiving week began with stump removal on both courses. We continue to contract out this work for efficiency and cost. There isn’t enough justification to spend roughly 60k on a stump grinder to keep on property when we can bring in a stump removal service three times a year for a fraction of the cost. This approach allows us to keep removing trees as needed until enough stumps accumulate for our contractor to make a full day of grinding stumps on the property. Afterward, our team cleans up the grindings which fully completes the tree-removal process. Continuing on the tree-removal topic, we were finally able to take down the last tree needed for the Department Maintenance team. If you remember from a couple posts back, we had to remove several trees next to their building. This was to make room for a new lean-to that will be used to store the smoker and a few other miscellaneous items. This added storage space will be a great benefit to their department and the club as a whol...

 The first signs of winter weather hit us earlier in the week. We’re still over a month away from the winter solstice, when winter officially begins, but it certainly felt like it had arrived. The cold weather settled in a bit earlier than expected, and while we didn’t break any historic low temperatures, it sure didn’t feel that way for anyone out on the golf courses. Looking at the forecast, we still have plenty of time to enjoy some good golf weather before Thanksgiving. Nevertheless, things are cooling down here at Hermitage Country Club.  With the cold weather that decided to sit over us Tuesday morning, we opted to keep a handful of guys around the shop to tidy up a few things. We were able to pressure wash two of the equipment storage facilities that had accumulated plenty of dust over the years. We also added a fresh coat of paint to a couple of adjacent walls and made good use of our Hermitage stencil as well. Keeping these areas clean helps maintain a more profession...