New Year, still pretty soggy

 

The past few Monday's we have been working on the wettest part of our property, the middle of the driving range. Our 2020 rain total ended with almost 25 inches more rain than normal. This of course has not held up play very much and everyone continues to pound range balls. The main part of the range has been impossible to pick with the cart so we have been adding true French drains in to try and help dry things up. Each week has been very similar, with rain on Friday, soaking everything back down for the following week. Just as we try to dry out, more rain comes. We don't mind making a mess here on the range, which isn't really visible from the tee, but out on the course we need it a bit drier to get back into serious drainage work.

Julio and Raul have finished up their paver project along the path behind the Clubhouse. The edges of this path were seriously deteriorated and we were able to remove the landscape timbers from the clubhouse side. Paver work will continue this winter near 3 Sabot tee, the bathroom on 4 Sabot and inside the Baby pool seating area, among other smaller areas.

Jacob has started working on digging out the stream on 14 Manakin. The excavator is high demand over the winter, so when it is too wet on 14 to pass trailers across the fairway, this project gets pushed down the line.

Tree work remains high on the list. This week we trimmed back the shade line from 5 green, giving our new bermudagrass as well as the bentgrass green a better chance to thrive through next season.

We have also started in on the trees to the right of #1 Manakin. A few dead trees along with some pines that are shading that green in the morning are being removed.

The mechanics have been working this week also to upgrade our wood chip box. The new box will have a little bit larger capacity so that we don't have to make as many trips back and forth to the wood chip pile.

Olvin and Abel have continued tying in drains on the Sabot. This drain in particular they were able to shave about 5 inches of soil from around the inlet. Now our mowers will have a smooth ride through the low areas and golf carts that aren't paying attention won't be broken in half.

Wilson and Manuel have been grinding on the forsythia bed at the front entrance. They are thinning out volunteers and trying to better define the original and intended planting here. Just letting this bed grow into a giant hedge is not manageable and ends up unattractive. From here on out we should be able to better manage this area.

The bluegrass on the Sabot continues to produce a giant question mark. Poa is trying to join the party while the shaded wet areas have filled in over the past 6 weeks. There is even bluegrass seed starting to germinate in super wet areas on 8 and 2. All we can predict is this: We will use herbicides to control the Poa annua and we will continue to using sand topdressings and compost to firm up the Sabot fairways. How the bluegrass looks come April will be very interesting.

We have not gotten started on the Sabot bunkers quite yet. As we mentioned, the excavator is being pulled in many different directions. But the real reason we haven't started digging is because of the low temperatures. We need a solid two days of temperatures above freezing in order to pour the new drainage system in the bottom of the bunkers. Because of that we have been focused on other projects. When the calendar clicks over to February however, we will be going full tilt on bunker rebuilding. If the temperatures let us pour the drainage liner then great, if not we will just keep moving forward on digging. Our goal is to finish off the front nine bunkers (save for 9 fairway probably) by mid-March.

We have more damp weather on the way, and in two weeks or so winter will really be here with some temperatures in the teens. There is a long way to go before spring!