Bunker work complete, Irrigation project rolls on

 

Arizona is where you should be playing golf right now! Our one assistant on the Manakin, Grant, came up with a pretty fun idea to work at two TPC courses for PGA Tour events this winter. We did a site visit with Grant two weeks ago at the Waste Management open where Grant helped out for a few weeks. He has now driven his conversion van (that he lives in!) to TPC Sawgrass to help out with the Player's Championship. This has been a great learning experience for Grant as it is always helpful to see how other big time facilities manage their operations. 

Back home on the ranch the guys have been working hard digging out bunkers and pouring more pervious concrete. Our last two bunkers (2 fairway and 3 fairway) are being filled up now and will more than likely be in play for the weekend. This completes our bunker work for this fiscal year as we have hit the annual budget allotment. 11 bunkers down, 49 to go. We will be working through the old bunkers now, adding sand where needed and getting them ready for another season.

The irrigation crew is deep into 6 fairway laying out the heads and lateral lines. 

Fusing on a tee for a bunker face zone. The yellow wire is what connects all the heads together on a single path. We need the weather to cooperate in order to get everything in the ground by the end of March.

Our old friend Poa annua has once again infiltrated these "bluegrass" fairways on the back nine of Sabot. The bluegrass seedlings are under the poa somewhere but despite a pre-emergent application the poa has taken over. We have applied a herbicide to thin out the poa as well as something for seedhead control. The amount of pressure from the poa seed bank is incredible and really makes this whole process unnecessary considering the quality of the dormant bermuda on the front of the Sabot that has required no additional inputs this winter.

The new bentgrass greens on the front of the Sabot are rooted in nicely. The roots are strong and ready for the spring. We need the weather to get a little more consistent so that we can get the mowers and rollers out more regularly. April 19th remains our latest day to re-open the front of Sabot.