Nice weather = projects getting done
The weather has been pretty favorable over the last two weeks. This red sky morning hauled in a pretty hefty storm that will soak us down for a while now though. The rain will force us off the turf for a few days which is a good thing in order to get some winter detail work done.
Jacob and Julio got their shoe air station finished up by the golf shop. We plumbed the air from the compressor that was already in the cart barn and harvested the old fire pit in order to make a nice bench for cleaning off your shoes or push cart. We hope to add one more station by the water machine outside the grill in a few weeks.
With the shoe station complete Jacob moved on to adding a bridge at the end of the stream on 14 Manakin. There will be one step to get up on the bridge but it is wide enough for push carts. If we can dry up enough in the coming weeks we hope to get the excavator over here to clean out the bottom of the stream and maybe toss in a natural waterfall.
We were able to get the Capillary Concrete installed in the bunker on 11 Sabot on Tuesday. We are in a slight holding pattern for more bunker work at the moment. The sands we installed at the chipping green are not impressing as time has rolled on. We are looking for a pure white sand and one that holds up to the wind better and packs tighter. Why don't we just use the white sand that all our neighbors have used? Because that sand plant closed up shop forever in November! We are getting close and our worst case scenario is having to wait until April to install the sand. We want to start this project off correctly with the proper sand so we may have to be patient and wait for the Pennsylvania plant to open up with warmer weather.
More good news is that we aerated the Sabot greens this week. Deep solid tines poked 8 inches down into the Sabot early in the week. The green was rolled immediately after and it is very difficult to identify any disturbance. The deep tines help loosen the sand based system, introducing air deep into the profile and aiding in faster drainage. The deep tine will work its way over to the Manakin in all likelihood next week.
Tree work continues on the Sabot. Most of the work is tough to identify. We are removing trees that are blocking sun from a variety of different playing surfaces. Thinning certain areas and moving lines back here and there will greatly improve turf conditions during the season.
Nick, Joe, Dunstano and I had the opportunity to go to the Golf Industry show last week in Orlando. Unlike the PGA show where you look at golf balls and shirt folding apparatuses, we got to check out cutting edge pesticides, robot mowers, remote soil sensors, GPS sprayers, fancy fertilizers and sand injection machines. On top of education for the world's best instructors we used our time on the trade show floor to pick up new ideas and make great deals on capital equipment purchases.
Another highlight was listening to Speaker John Boehner talk about politics and golf, holding it in a very positive light.
And Joe got to meet Marilyn Monroe!
Our new sign is up in front of the break room, ready for the 2020 season!