Hermitage CC Golf Course Management

 Hard to believe that we haven’t seen any golf played across the Hermitage campus in 20-plus days. The snow and ice storm that hit us at the end of January is still making its presence known, even today, with signs of the lingering ice around both courses. We’ve finally had a couple of “nice” days well above freezing, allowing the ice to begin melting and slowly working its way down into our catch basins. Anything that continues to receive direct sunlight has done a great job of thawing out, allowing us to finally check on some of our dormant bermudagrass turf  like here on #9 Manakin. You can see that there is almost no ice remaining at the beginning of the fairway, while the forward section still remains frozen solid. We still have a long way to go, but we’re hopeful this warming trend continues and helps clear out the remaining effects of the Arctic storm so we can put it behind us for the rest of the winter. All three of these pictures were taken on the same day over on th...

A few of us traveled down to Florida for the week to attend the annual Golf Course Industry Show. The Golf Course Superintendents Association of America, or (GCSAA), hosts a national conference every year in February, filled with educational seminars, a golf tournament, a trade show, and networking events throughout the week. It’s a great opportunity to stay current with industry trends and standards. We had hoped to escape some of the cold weather we’ve been dealing with back home, but even in Florida we ran into frost delays on both courses we played on Monday and Tuesday. Winter certainly hasn’t been kind to anyone this year. While we did see some frost in Florida, it really didn’t compare to the temperatures here. Below freezing temperatures as the daily high have seemed almost normal here in recent weeks. Unfortunately, until the ice/snow melts, both courses will remain closed. Looking ahead, next week brings some temperatures above 50 degrees, but may be followed up with more win...

  It has been a slow week on the Hermitage campus. The storm that moved through over the weekend brought just about every type of winter precipitation you could imagine. Overall, the forecast held true, and while some of the amounts varied, it was still no fun watching it all play out. In total, we received 3–4 inches of snow, topped off with a "wonderful" 2–3 inches sleet, and freezing rain to top it all off. Looking back, it’s clear that closing club operations on Sunday and into Monday was the right call. The crew got busy Monday morning clearing the snow and ice mixture from paved areas across the property, which proved to be much more difficult than anticipated. The real stars of the show were, obviously, our staff, but also our Takeuchi track loaders. Without them, we would likely still have a thin layer of ice covering the asphalt surfaces around campus. Opting to keep them indoors before the storm was also another great benefit. Not having to clean the ice layer off b...

  Sun is still out, but maybe not for long. All weather forecasts are pointing toward the same thing, heavy snow. Not a couple inches like the storms we saw in December, or the dusting we had this past Sunday, but a true winter storm. One meteorologist said that 6–12 inches is a good preliminary number to plan for. The last time Richmond saw over 10 inches of snow was in December of 2018. Nothing is for sure as the forecast is continually changing.  The incoming snow or ice is hardly the worst of it. Temperatures are expected to drop after the storm, and over the next 10 days we may only see a couple of days above freezing following the snowfall. Most nighttime low temperatures will fall into the teens, with a few nights even dipping into the single digits. The Manakin team was able to get all of the tee markers in to give them a fresh coat of paint. We still have some in our paint booth, so you may not see the green or yellow tees back on the course until tomorrow or early ne...

                                  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...