Happy Summer
The beast has awoken! The bermuda is back and has quickly started to show off. The heat, humidity and moisture are finally optimal to put these courses in great playing condition.
In the same breath that we talk about how good the bermuda is we will also see the bentgrass green speeds slow down a touch. Having the the humidity reach into the 80's and 90's is much different than what we observed all spring. Cool temperatures and low humidity help produce a very thin leaf blade that gave us amazing greens speeds all spring. With humidity up to summer levels the plant will retain that moisture since the outside air is already saturated with moisture. We apply a variety of different nutrients that help increase transpiration but the main goal remains to keep these greens healthy through the summer.
One major help in increasing moisture transfer is the use of our fans. All 20 of our fans are out on the golf courses. The 5 oldest fans that were on the Sabot have been retired and replaced. All of our fans are now the newest model, with a direct drive system instead of pulleys and belts. These fans are as quiet as possible and pushing the most air over our bentgrass. Besides 9 Sabot, we have gotten all the fans wired up and running before the 4th of July which is no small feat!
A few trees were removed this week in front of some final summer sod work on the bermuda. The large oak to the back right of 3 Sabot green was deleted and sodded over early in the week. The new fan was moved slightly further back so that the sprinkler heads around the green don't shoot straight into the fan and block water from getting to the hillside.
The willow oak sitting on 11 black tee Sabot was also removed in favor of fresh sod. There was just too much shade being cast on a par 3 tee for that tree to remain and it also opens up some great air flow for 1 green Manakin. 1 green is on a bit of an island in that running power for a fan would be quite a chore.
Some tall fescue sod went down under the oak on 2 Sabot.
13 Sabot got the extra fescue sod on the golfers left of the fairway, another north facing spot under a tree. Overall the vamont is looking great, as is the Latitude36 on Manakin. Enjoy the long holiday weekend and be careful around all the thunderstorms!