Spring weather is dragging but we are close
We have had a few beautiful days over the past two weeks but temperatures 10+ degrees below normal are not helping our turf that much. Thursday morning we started off at 39 degrees! Only a few more days are forecasted with lows in the 40's and then maybe we will get into some spring growing weather.....before June gets here!
The spring has been great for cool season turf. Where there is no concern for green speed, the bentgrass is growing nicely. This a picture from the sod farm that is growing the sod for our new greens on the Sabot. It is looking great after just 3 weeks. It got its first haircut this week and is beginning to be managed as a greens height turf. We are looking good for a November transplant.
Our latitude bermuda collars on the Sabot have rooted in nicely but have yet to really green up. Part of that is the weather and part of that is mowing them immediately at .4". The sod comes in at around an inch tall but we do not have to waste time training it to our desired height. Joe got a nice topdressing down this week to help smooth the surface.
6 out of our 7 new fairway mowers have arrived on property. We are now mowing with 4 units on the Manakin instead of 3 which allows us to stay ahead of play and get all the fairways finished before lunch time. The new fairway mowers feature larger 7 inch diameter reels that are heavier and provide a much better cut than our old 5" units. We are mowing lower and tighter than ever on the Latitude.
We have turned to some detail work this week which mainly includes getting all the mulch and pine straw beds into shape. On some of the windward pine straw beds are using our home grown wood chips. Pine straw is very frustrating to manage between the wind that comes across some of the beds as well as our own blowers trying to clean up the clippings. The wood chips are relatively attractive and maybe more importantly, free.
We continue to patch up parts of the parking lot as well as on the Golf Course. As part of the capital renewals and replacements plan, the entire parking lot and entrance roads areas are planned to be repaved and striped this summer. This should be exciting logistically and will of course be a great improvement.
