Hermitage CC Golf Course Management

The Manakin greens were aerated this week and this video is about the only evidence we have of it. 3/8" cores were pulled out of the green profile and back-filled (in reverse!) with sand. Some zeolite clay, calcium, magnesium and potassium was also put out and brushed into the holes. As we continue to incorporate more sand into the greens profiles, the more firm they will play and the healthier they will be through the summer. The build up of organic material over the years is not a positive attribute so every time we put the aerator in the ground, the greens get better. The Manakin greens are healing quickly, getting their first cut on Thursday. We will start dropping the height down and plan to have them at their peak for opening September 24th. The Sabot greens continue to get dusted periodically with sand. This helps firm the surface and fill up the spongy mat layer. These greens are ready for an aeration as well but we will wait until Mid-October for that. We wil...

After an inch and a half of rain came down last Friday, the humidity kicked in along with our fertilizer, and the Latitude started blowing out of the ground. All the holes have now been mowed at least once. All the weeds have been sprayed and we will be putting our 3rd truck of sod down today. We are shaping up nicely as we cross the line to be inside a month from opening on September 24th. We have been dealing with weeds on both courses. On the Sabot it has been easy to see where herbicide was applied to take out any goosegrass, sedge, or crabgrass. The herbicide sets the bermuda back slightly but it grows out in about two weeks. The herbicide we are using on the Manakin has much less impact on the bermuda but has to applied at least twice to be effective. The greens surrounds on the Manakin have now all been core aerated and topdressed. We also ran a stick edger around the greens to help slice off any bermuda trying to creep its way into the bentgrass. We tested out...

There is a drastic difference in bermudgrass growth with different weather patterns. Over the weekend it was cool at night with low humidity and the bermuda wasn't going anywhere. Then we got a touch of rain, some heat and tons of humidity and the bermuda exploded again just like we want it to. The forecast looks good for the next few weeks, we are less than 6 weeks from opening the Manakin. Number 2 is winning the prize for the hole in last place as everything finishes rooting in. We are drying this hole down, spraying the weeds out and will start mowing it possibly over the weekend. 13 has come in nicely over the last week also. We are letting it dry down now and will be able to mow and fertilize it next week. Small areas on holes that have been sprigged for 5 weeks are what we continue work on as well. These areas are sliced and then pushed with fertilizer. It is hard to see but there are stolons of bermuda running across these areas and they will continue to g...

We continue to move forward with the Latitude grow in. We are now mowed out through #18 which makes for 7 holes that have a mower working on them at just inside a month since first sprigging. The regular fairway mowers are out on 3 and 4 as well, dropping the height down and continuing to push the turf sideways. This past Tuesday we finished our touch up work with an extra load of sprigs from the farm. The initial sprigs that went down on parts of 10 and 13 just got smoked out from the intense heat 2 weeks ago. A few other spots with lacking irrigation coverage were also re-sprigged. The rains this week have helped speed the rooting process up and 13 already has a nice green sheen working. We will use every day we have available to grow these last few holes in but we are still very happy with how our timeline has come together. The turf farm was nice enough to let us borrow their slicer/crimper to plant the extra set of sprigs. We have also been using it to slice areas tha...

July is always a good month to get rid of. The heat and humidity have been impressive and unless you were on the Manakin all month like Nick and Jacob, you knew how dry we were. July finished with just over an inch of rain. We are losing daylight as we work towards fall now but the Manakin continues to progress. 8 and 11 hit the two week mark today and we are close to turning off the water on them. At our peak last week we were hitting 1.5 million gallons of water going out. We are thankful to see some rain in the forecast now! 14 at 3 weeks and one week apart. We are mowing and rolling holes up through 16 now. 17 and 18 are ready as well. We are primed and ready for the bermuda to really start taking off in weeks 4 and 5. The thinner spots will close up quickly. We do have a few areas that were sprigged in the severe heat about a week and half ago on 10 and 13 that will be touched up with fresh sprigs tomorrow. This is par for the course as we are still in great sh...