Hermitage CC Golf Course Management

 Well...I think we're all happy to be done with this week. Bermudagrass aeration, verticutting, and topdressing is always a major undertaking, but it's an even bigger ordeal on Manakin. Compared to most courses in our area, Manakin has roughly twice the amount of short-cut bermudagrass. While that makes for a lot of fun and great playing conditions, it also means a tremendous amount of labor goes into maintaining those surfaces—especially this time of year when we're focused on the cultural practices that keep them healthy and performing at a high level. Monday started with some dead tree removal on both courses. Ben handled the tree crew, and honestly, I don't think I've ever seen one person get so giddy over a new chainsaw. This new fuel-injected Stihl 500i is literally his new baby. It will be a great addition to our fleet and help replace some of our aging saws that have seen more than their fair share of tree work over the years. Nearly all of our tree removal ...

  Last week ended with some extreme heat, followed by a couple of dreamy days to start this week. It was the perfect time for the ice cream truck to stop by! I apologize for the terrible picture—I didn't realize how bad it was until now. Anytime we can get a couple of nights in the 60s during July, we view that as an absolute gift. Unfortunately, it didn't last long. We're back into the upper 90s for the next couple of days, along with some incredible humidity. Overall, everything is in decent shape for July. The greens are a little wetter than we would like, but the rain earlier in the week, soil spray applications that require a little overhead irrigation, and all of this humidity have kept them a little fat and swollen. Unfortunately, it seems like the last couple of soil spray applications have come due just as we've started getting some rainfall. It would be nice if those lined up with periods when the greens were drying down instead of getting wetter, but such is ...

 Well...Happy 4th! Summer has officially arrived! Temperatures climbed over 100 degrees this week...all of us are cranky and already talking about hunting season, fall vacations, and those first frosts. We wouldn't have it any other way. This dangerous heat was followed by some much-needed rainfall and, of course, extreme humidity. That's exactly what the Bermudagrass has been waiting for. While this weather is great for Bermuda, the next two to three weeks are survival mode for our bentgrass greens. One of the biggest tools we have at our disposal during this time of year is air movement. My phone this week was filled with pictures of fan components that were absolutely smoked by the intense lightning storms. Most of the fans on the golf course were damaged in some capacity, but the boys did a great job getting them back up and running in a hurry. Those fans become extremely important this time of year as we do everything we can to help the bentgrass survive the heat. Speaking...