Hermitage CC Golf Course Management

  The weather has been kind to us this week as cool temperatures and plenty of sun have made conditions perfect for seeding. On Monday we started up at the back range tee. We lowered our sweeper machine enough to cut about a quarter inch of thatch off the top of the tee, smoothing out many of the divots along the way. After a quick drag, the seeder dimpled in some ryegrass and brushed it into the holes. As bermuda growth comes to a halt here, we hope to use this back tee more often in the winter with a thick stand of rye on it. The major project for the week was getting bluegrass seed sown into the Sabot back nine fairways. With the front nine being closed from November 1 to mid April, we wanted to let that go dormant on its own and then see if we could get the bluegrass back as a viable winter surface on the back nine. Like we did two years ago, the fairways were aggressively verticut, producing a hefty amount of material to be cleaned up. With the debris cleaned up, the fairway m...

  It was still humid to start the week but the Manakin greens were more than ready to be aerated and enjoy some time off from golf. 3/8" cores were pulled out of all the Manakin greens between Monday and Tuesday. The cores are simply blown off the green and onto the bermuda where we can use shovels and the sweeper machine to pick them. Reducing wear here on the bentgrass goes a long way in shortening recovery time.  Filling the new voids with sand is where the main benefit from aeration is realized. The sand helps hold pore space open as opposed to the older organic matter. Over time the organic matter continues to build up as the bent grows and we mow it everyday. Replacing it with sand helps us keep air and water moving through the profile. This is massively important in the summer months when it gets hot and wet at the same time and the bentgrass can't function properly.  The sand along with a variety of different nutrients that were also spread out, are all brushed in...

  After a pretty decent weekend of temperatures, the rain stayed away all week and we were just barely seeing the course dry up and dial in. The temperatures came back up along with the humidity on Monday so the bermudagrass continues to love life. But after prepping the course out all week, we just got served up another tropical thunderstorm, dumping close to an inch and a half of rain right after the second round of the Men's Member Member. Just as our bentgrass was starting to enjoy some sunny, drier weather it gets saturated again. The greens on the Manakin will see some relief as we will move forward with a core aeration on this coming Monday and Tuesday the 20th and 21st. The aeration process is still stressful for the turf so we are really looking forward to some cooler nights next week. Go enjoy the Sabot next week, it is in amazing shape!  Did you know that the Sabot only gets about 40% of our total golf rounds? Right now for year to date rounds we have 25,774 on Mana...

There were a few days this past week where it felt like we were starting August over again. 3 tenths of an inch of rain pounded the course Tuesday and then the sun came out to create an oven at the turfs surface. The bermuda is loving life while the greens are ready to see some fall weather.  While we had plans for a few more fans on the remaining Manakin pocketed greens for next year, we got impatient on 17. With the humidity and even some 90 degree temperatures showing back up in the forecast, we went and stole the fan off 2 Sabot for 17 Manakin. If you remember in the spring, we put in a new power panel to the left of 15 tees in order to power the recirculation pump for 14. We were able to again tap in here so we cut a 800 foot long trench the left of 15 to behind 17 green. It was a swift moving day without too many pictures being taken but the trench was cut, wire installed and sod laid back just before another thunderstorm came through after lunch on Wednesday. Most of the Man...

  A lot sure can happen in a week. The neighborhood around our property took it on the chin the past 10 days thanks to the armyworm. Hopefully by now everyone has handed over their credit card to the local landscaping company so that they can get the worms under control. They really should be close to finished chewing on your lawn by now. There may or may not be a second wave to come through this fall, so keep watching.  Everyday we are out watching, scouting and employing different management techniques to keep our turf in top shape. The past two weeks have been very challenging with excessive moisture and excessive heat. While the bermuda loves this type of weather, the cool season bentgrass hates it. Even with multiple fungicide applications out and a variety of different fertilizers down to help trick the bentgrass in to thinking its not 105 degrees on the surface, the bent will still struggle without air moving above and below the profile. Over the weekend we went as far ...