Hermitage CC Golf Course Management

  Cold temperatures, snow and ice do well to keep golfers off the course which means we are full speed ahead in the bunkers on the Manakin. We still have work to finish on the right of #1 but 8 green proved more accessible this week. Tae jumped in the excavator and chipped away the old frozen sand. We will let yet another batch of winter storms through tomorrow and then get both these bunkers drained and ready for capillary concrete next week. With the Manakin guys mostly occupied in the bunkers the Sabot team took to the "close to the path" list. This high traffic area by the putting green was spruced up a bit with some more pavers. We have two opposite curbs here now on each corner apex, ready for all you F1 drivers that are trying to get the most of your cart through this grandstand turn. The weather has definitely slowed down the irrigation company but that is expected in January. The real work has started now. Every 70 feet or so, the mainline is dug back up and the late...

  The main line has made its way back to #1 tee Sabot! In total for the mainline we have seen about 14,000 linear feet of pipe go into the ground. The HDPE pipe is really efficient to put together. Instead of wrestling with gasketed fittings and glue, every 50 foot long stick of pipe is fused together with this machine. The ends of the pipe are heated up to 425 degrees and then the fusing machine pushes the two ends of the pipe together. An 8 inch pipe is fused for 8 minutes. The result of the butt fusion is a joint that is stronger than the pipe itself, ensuring that this system will be in use for a very long time. Each fusion is dated and signed before it goes into the ground. We should start seeing the new heads being plowed into the ground next week. The main line was hooked into this stubbed valve behind 9 green. This valve was put into place almost 18 years ago in anticipation of this new system going in! The dormant fairways on the front of the Sabot have held up extremely w...

  Pretty close to 8 inches of snow fell relatively quickly on Monday. 2022 is starting out cold and saturated, a major change from the past few months. The "warm" water from lake gave a picturesque scene on Tuesday morning. The snow provides an almost welcome change of pace. Any desires to do more drainage or bunker work are put on hold but it is nice not have to rake bunkers or change cups for a few days while you golfers are stuck inside. The blanket of snow was also welcome before the temperatures dropped Monday night. The latitude was greening up last week like it was late March. You never want the bermuda green going into freezing temperatures so the snow added a layer of protection this time. A few more inches is expected tonight to cover things again before temps drop again. Only time will tell if this few weeks of whacky weather will delay green up in the spring. Tree damage wise for the most part we ended up unscathed. A few cedar branches here and there along with a...