Cooler weather that all turf is enjoying

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 will however be aerating the bentgrass tees on the Sabot on this coming Tuesday.

Just when we think the Latitude on the Manakin may be slowing down, another shot of fertilizer and humidity kicks in and it just keeps moving. Our last hole sprigged, #5, looks great.

We have been starting to cut in the fairway lines on certain holes. The lines will follow the existing contours and tree lines. Overall they will be wider and set up for more strategic play. There will only be 3 heights of cut on the Manakin. The tees, fairways and green surrounds will all be mowed together at about half an inch. The rough will be mowed at an inch and the greens will of course be around an eighth of an inch. We are looking forward to getting golfers back out on the course to enjoy some beautiful bermudagrass lies. As of right now, we are certainly planning on allowing cart traffic on the Manakin up until the first hard frost of the fall which hopefully won't be until mid-November.

Our crew continues to lay sod in certain areas through the Manakin. To date we have laid about an acre worth of Latitude sod. Next week we will get 10,000 square feet of low mow bluegrass to patch up some shadier areas. We are running out of places to sod and that is a good thing.

The old gray sand from the approaches is being spread quickly this week. The very thin layer of sand will help smooth out the turf and get it ready for golf play. Recycling this sand for an initial topdressing was very beneficial for our budget.

The sand pile behind 9 green is almost gone! This area will be graded out and sodded in the next week or so.

Enjoy the fireworks and Labor Day weekend!