Hermitage CC Golf Course Management

We continue to enjoy managing our cool season turf in this cool and wet spring. All of the tees on the Sabot were solid tine aerated on Monday. The more we can help the bluegrass root in, the better chance it has of making it through the summer and into the fall again. We were also able to apply a heavy amount of topdressing on the tees and brush it into the holes. The sand will help smooth and firm the surface while preserving more air space in the profile to aid in root growth. We also ran our new PlanetAir machines over the Sabot greens on Monday. As you can see from the above, there is very minimal disruption to the surface with these machines while a nice amount of air is being allowed about 2.5 inches down into the profile. The Manakin greens were done with the PlanetAir last week. You can see in an old knife hole how new white roots are being initiated. This is an obvious positive for overall health but the reduction and improvement in thatch helps keep the...

We have been enduring some beautiful (albeit windy) cool season grass growing weather. The bluegrass on the Sabot fairways has filled in nicely and we even put some growth regulator on it so that we may only mow it once a week. The bentgrass greens are firm and rolling nicely. Unfortunately out of about 250 acres of turf we manage only 40 are cool season. The bermudagrass, especially anything that was really greening up on the Manakin, has been set back this week from cold temperatures. A few frosts mixed with cold temperatures means bermuda is going nowhere. Here is a chart showing soil temperatures over the last 30 days on #1 Manakin. Those few days in the 70's got everything greened up but lately we have had nothing positive in the way of warm weather. Until we can get an average soil temperature in the mid 60's the bermuda is not going to do much. This is not necessarily a bad thing considering being limited on staff but either way we are ready to grow some ber...

We are gaining about 1 minute of daylight every day now. Day length helps encourage our warm season grass to wake up but with soil temperatures still in the mid 50's it is not going anywhere fast. Next week the night time temps look to come out of the 30's and highs are back in the 70's. But why is some turf green and other areas are still brown? Is it because some was sodded while the sprigs are still looking to mature this season like on 13 here in the picture? Was it a wet spot? Was it a dry area? Did it get the same amount of compost or fertilizer? Is it herbicide slowing things down? Is it a shade problem? Is it a traffic problem? Bottom line is it is still too cold and too early to worry about much on the Manakin. As the Latitude gets another season under its belt and we continue to improve cultural conditions it may green up quicker in the future. Until then, enjoy the great spring conditions of the greens and keep working on your 8 iron bump and run shot! ...

The golf courses continue to green up day by day. We have been mowing the cool season turf on the Sabot with the brushes down this week to continue working on texture and density. The greens on both courses are just about filled in. The Manakin greens are actually closing in on 100% before the Sabot even though they were punched a week before. The Sabot was lightly verticut on Monday and topdressed to help close up the final holes and smooth things out. The Manakin will get the same process on this coming Monday if mother nature cooperates. We have had some rain and wind this week. Some cooler temperatures are going to swing through over the next week or two slowing turf growth down. Debris blowing everywhere and down trees also add an extra element in getting the courses set up with a limited crew each day. We did get the first mowing of the Manakin bermuda down this week. It is a little slow to wake up (even though its only April 9th) mainly because of the pre-emerg...

The Manakin greens are starting to fill in nicely. The rain has continued to help work any left over sand into the profile. Monday was our first time mowing since aeration. We waited for the greens to dry out so that the sand would not stick to the mowers. Every Monday we have specific plans based on 18 holes opening at 1 pm. With a condensed crew on board, this closed time is even more important as we try and keep up with the 500 acres around us. So, yes, we are closed on Monday's until 1 pm, and no (!) you cannot go off early. Thank you! One of the things Monday's are good for is filling divots. A busy winter and now without sand bottles available to golfers we have plenty of divots to fill. We hope to be finished with about 27 holes this week come Friday. The bluegrass on the Sabot is coming on strong. We are letting it fill in this week and then most likely next week we will apply a growth regulator so that we can reduce mowing from 3 times a week to once....