Hermitage CC Golf Course Management

  Our final two loads of permeable concrete have been laid in the bunkers on the front of the Sabot. Two more loads of sand are scheduled to land on Friday. That sand will fill up the bunkers on 5 and we will be finished for this season. The back right bunker on #3 will be filled in and sodded and the two left fairway bunkers on 9 will be redesigned and then rebuilt this winter when the front nine of the Sabot is closed for the irrigation and greens resurfacing project. The contaminated bunker sand was spread out on the driving range Monday. The rain has washed it in nicely. Between this topdressing, the new drainage installed and the new net, the driving range has seen some nice improvements this winter. The new black tee on #9 is finished being graded (and uniquely tamped). We also installed a new irrigation head and hose quick coupler in the proper spot. The rain on Wednesday delayed our sodding process until this coming Monday. Once sodded this new feature should fade a little ...

  A few rain showers and a lack of sun did not slow down our aeration process on the Sabot this week. The Dryject machines were here bright and early on Monday and made it across all 20 greens before about 3:30 pm. Around 30 tons of sand were hand loaded into 3 machines which then injected the sand straight into the greens profile. Diluting old organic matter is the name of the game with bentgrass aeration. Bentgrass is constantly growing and we are constantly mowing it which means dead leaves, stems and roots accumulate quickly and contribute to an organic layer above the original sand base that the greens were built on. By diluting the organic matter we can maintain a healthy surface and provide a satisfactory medium for the bentgrass to thrive in. The Dryject is almost cheating in a sense that it requires little effort to get sand exactly where we need it. In the spring we have the luxury to take an aggressive approach with aeration in order to get ready for the season. By using...

  We were ready for the warm and dry weather this week. 4 truck loads of capillary concrete were laid down on Monday and Tuesday. The bunkers on 1, 4, 6 and 9 now have their new drainage system installed. 4 trucks of permeable concrete held about 38 yards of mix. That means a little over 150,000 pounds of concrete was spread out individually through the bunkers by hand and spread smooth. The new drainage flows perfectly and by Wednesday we were ready to fill the bunkers up with sand. Unfortunately when we went to dig into our pile of sand, the wind had exposed the worst thing possible, rocks. These 6 piles of sand, almost $13,000 worth, were contaminated at the quarry in North Carolina before they landed here. Since we had not had a problem before with the sand, we didn't think to dig in and check inside each load when it landed. The wind tipped us off before we started filling up the bunkers and sure enough rocks were all through the loads. The sand will be replaced on Tuesday and...

  The weather really has not cooperated this winter. We remained pretty saturated as we enter March, taking on another inch and a half of rain on Monday. It seems like every season we have it is either the wettest, the coldest, the hottest, the driest or some other adjective that doesn't make our job any easier. With 20 degree temperatures this weekend we won't be looking for much bermuda green up until the end of the month. With the property soaked early in the week we finished off a few dry land projects. This back walk way was rejuvenated with some brick pavers. We also made a more accessible ramp for the sidewalk to the chipping green and then started getting down our spring mulch in the beds around the club. The second right side fairway bunker on 9 was dug out first this week since it was close to the cartpath. The old drainage was removed and few new lines were added here. It was great to see the other fairway bunker on 9 take on that inch and a half of rain with no prob...