Good things come to those that wait
A few more frosts have really turned the Manakin off color the past two weeks. The only green color that is left is from a pigment spray last Monday. As we have discussed here, we were trying to use pigments, which are applied at a light rate (22 oz per acre) to maintain some color until December. The cold temps and rain have degraded that pigment but we are still going to wait until the first week of December to get our colorant out for the winter. The colorant is applied at around 4 gallons per acre and will hopefully provide a much deeper color for two months after applied. We are trying to be patient so that the colorant lasts through the winter and maybe just needs one more touch up in February.
The Sabot is producing its green color naturally with the bluegrass seed. We applied some fertilizer through the sprayer this week to help keep the bluegrass moving and darken up the color a bit. We also applied some wetting agent to help keep rain water moving through the profile so that we can keep carts running on the Sabot as much as possible.
The greens on both sides have been putting nicely this fall but we are going to keep our promise and aerate the Manakin greens on Monday December 2nd. We will pull out small 1/4" cores from the top 2 inches of the greens profile. The more organic material we can remove and periodically dilute with sand, the firmer and more consistent the greens will be. It will be surprising if ball roll is impacted much at all by the weekend.
Our new excavator is on the ground and we have put it to use already. This tool will make a myriad of projects possible now. Our main objective will be using it to rebuild the drainage in the Sabot bunkers and add new sand. That project will start early next year and will be accomplished in 3 stages over 3 winter seasons. In the meantime the excavator will be busy on a daily basis making small improvements throughout both courses.
The paver curbing work continues on both courses. The excavator makes larger areas like these on 13 Sabot much easier. Instead of having mud to step out onto behind 13 you will now have a smooth paver curb. Next week we will take out the gravel paths to the bathroom and make paver walk ways.
The curbs bring a finished look to worn out areas. The crew really enjoys making these type of improvements as well and helps build their own skill set.
We have finished up moving the fans on 5 and 12 Sabot. The wiring has been extended and the fan base relocated so that the fan is within a 100 foot radius of the entire green. The new bases were also installed so that the fans can be removed in the off season and put out of sight. Details on some additional fans to be installed on both courses will be coming soon this winter.
On the Sabot it is easy to see where any ryegrass in the collars remains. Some of the thinner areas will be able to be sprayed out but otherwise we will look to sod out the rest of the ryegrass with bermuda in the spring.
Enjoy another cold blustery and wet weekend!