Spring, and the pollen are here
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. Our staff will now be taking a day off during the week and then working a 4 hour shift on the weekends to make sure the courses are set up for when the bulk of people are out playing.
One of the new machines that has greatly helped with efficiency already is the Ventrac. This machine is versatile and has attachments for different functions. In these photos you can see it being used as a native area mower, cartpath edger, stump grinder and a contour deck mower. We traded away two of our regular rough mowers for two Ventrac's this year. Instead of sitting in the maintenance facility for 6 months these mowers are being put to use year round.
We are still fixing leaks on the Sabot. 30 year old fittings do not hold up well in the spring. This will be a constant battle until we can replace the system in a few years.
John has installed one of the ten new irrigation controllers for the Manakin. We have one more on site but the rest are being held up in production and shipping. We are entering the time now when both courses are about to explode with growth and we will be hustling to keep it all in shape. We are staying safe and enjoying our time outdoors, please do the same!