Another dry week means more pipe in the ground

 

The Sabot team went right back to #8 fairway on Monday, putting in more drains around the forward tee as well as the beginning of the fairway.

The water wick cut in lines of sand to help dry out around some of the existing surface drains on 8. Once the bermuda starts growing, any issues with this fairway being wet should be a thing of the past.

We even cut out and filled in a low depression that held water more towards the cart exit and the bridge.

After 8 was complete we went over to #1 and put a nice deep trench through the wet swale by the normal cart exit.

After #1 the guys traveled out to 13 to put a herringbone drainage system on the right of the fairway just past the pine tree.

Manakin managed to steal the trencher for a few minutes to cut a drain into the pine straw bed between 17 tees and 16. Water always washed down here quickly, taking the pine straw with it. This drain should slow the water flow down some so that this bed can look respectable more often.

The white tee markers are back out on the course with a fresh powdercoat on. Another batch of markers that were blemished from the season are at the powder coat shop now being re-finished. Next week in the cold we will look to knock out some other course furniture refurbishments like staining the cart posts, refinishing the hazard stakes and re-painting the cart arrows.

The Manakin crew also got to take down some dangerous trees left of 5 green this week. Many of these oaks and pines are leaning different directions and it is hard to know which way they will drop because of how rotten some are inside. Most of the time we using a slingshot and a bean bag to string a pull rope through the top of the tree which lets us pull the tree down with a tractor any way we want. You can see the rope in the picture if you look hard, and then look at that 75 foot tall pine tree leaning into another oak. The pine was dead and the only thing holding it up was the oak. We are lucky to have an experienced team here doing tree work in a safe and methodical manner.

Another project for the week was expanding the baby pool patio. This mulch bed was taking up valuable seating space in this area.

We are adding about 500 more square feet of space with our normal pavers that we have been using on the golf courses.

Almost finished and ready for pool season!

This was also our week to rent a bulldozer to smooth out the waste area left of 1 Sabot. We have been working for the past two years to keep the tree debris separate from compost material like soil, old sod, leaves and aeration spoils. Instead of the dump growing taller and taller we will eventually be able to reuse the composted material for projects around the courses.

The Redtail hawks love the week of disturbing the dump. They hang out every day, swooping and almost hovering above and then diving in to get scattering varmints.

With the frequent freezing and thawing the bentgrass greens have entered their winter dormancy. Very little growth is happening now so we put down some sand on Monday to help protect the surface from golfer foot traffic. Now more than ever it is important to find and fix your ballmark correctly by pushing in towards the middle. 

Check out the left side of the blog this week. You can find our current newsletter and the 2021 cultural practice schedule, among a few other documents that have been there for some time. Enjoy the bit of winter next week!