Hermitage CC Golf Course Management

We put the first mowing on the new bluegrass seed on the Sabot this week. The rain has helped move the turf along and it really is further along than expected. It will be very interesting to see what it looks like after a few frosts shuts the bermuda down. Either way we should have a really nice surface in early spring and a smooth transition next fall. One surprising thing we have discovered in the bluemuda conversion is how much ryegrass was still hanging out from last years overseed. The dark blotches of grass you can see out on the Sabot are rye that survived the summer. It was basically invisible up to two weeks ago. We will be able to spray out most of it in the spring and it will continue to thin out and die next summer. The lime green tufts of grass on the Manakin are Poa annua. The young bermudgrass here really limits our pre-emergent weed control options for the fall. What is not limited though are the herbicides we can use to take this poa out once the Latitude ...

There is a pretty good lime green hue from the bluegrass seed working on the Sabot. We were able to get our starter fertilizer down before the rains on Monday night. We know it has been soft over here but that moisture has helped our seed crop explode. The mild weather is helping so we will continue pushing this seed along into the winter. The bluegrass establishment is much slower than the rye but once it finishes filling in in the spring it will be here to stay. We hope to put carts back on the fairways Friday but be ready for more rain this weekend. With bermudagrass growth all but over with we are starting to check off some smaller sod projects before the frost really turns things off. This mulch area on 11 tee Sabot was sodded over to better hold up to rain events and give a nicer walk up to the tee. Check out the color of that Latitude sod from our nursery compared to the Vamont! On the Manakin the staff has been working through the bunkers again and fine tuning sa...

Almost 2 inches of rain soaked us down on Wednesday. This was the first time it had rained more than .3" in well over two months. As soil temperatures continue to drop, ensuring we have enough moisture in the profile is important so this rain was extremely beneficial. It is very doubtful that you will see the lakes that low ever again. The Sabot bunkers slowly drained out over night but that still leaves plenty of silt behind. The silt is cleaned out and the bunker is raked in what takes almost of full day of work. It will be very exciting if we are able to start renovating these bunkers next year. The rain was also very good timing for the bluegrass seedlings in the Sabot fairways. They continue to pop and grow. We have been keeping cart traffic in the rough this week and will continue to do so through the weekend in order to protect the seedlings. Please keep your cart between the cartpath and the fairway, don't get trapped on the opposite side. It is eas...

Despite the drought our bluegrass project on the Sabot is moving along swimmingly. We have been able to manage the moisture adequately without any significant rain. The seedlings are popping out now and looking good. We may begin restricted cart traffic for a week to ten days or so while the seedlings try to mature. The bermuda will continue its path to dormancy and we will start pushing these bluegrass seedlings along with fertilizer. Again, this will be a slow fill in process over the winter but the product will great in the spring. The bluegrass on the tees is looking good. We probably went a little early with the fertilizer there which has helped the bermuda keep its color. This transition into the winter will be very interesting! Your new golf carts arrived this week and there is more to them than cushy seats and lithium batteries. As the screens get installed over the next two weeks, they will provide gps yardages and also allow us to set up a "geo-fence"...

With everyone enjoying their time on the Manakin we are making the most out of the that distraction to get a few things done on the Sabot. All of the greens were core aerated on Monday with 3/8" tines. Core aeration pulls out accumulated organic matter in the upper layer of the greens. The darker black areas in the profile are what we are aiming for. On both courses too much organic matter has been allowed to build up over the past few years. This is why the greens can't firm up and root growth is limited. As we dilute the organic matter with sand and introduce more air to the profile, the greens will become firmer and most importantly, healthier, providing a more consistent surface. 50 tons of sand was brushed into the aeration holes early in the week. There is never a great time to aerate bentgrass greens but having another course for members to go enjoy during the process sure is nice. We began mowing the greens dry on Thursday. We will mow them again...