Post Member Guest cultural practices complete, bring on summer!
Our small tine aeration on all 39 greens was completed in two days this week. The tiny cores help us give the roots one last avenue to shoot down vertically while also continuing to allow water and air move through our upper profile. Our newer small tine program has been working nicely. The small tines don't rattle or heave the surface of the greens as much as larger tines so the bentgrass hasn't needed much energy to recover from the process. That and the weather has been perfect for bentgrass this year!
The small cores are easily blown off and picked up, allowing us to do an entire course in just one day.
With the cores removed the greens got a very light dusting of sand.
The greens enjoyed their respective day off and are mowing out and putting nicely now after a couple of rounds of irrigation.
A few of the tees that like to stay wet over the winter were also core aerated and topdressed.
It has been dry! The rain missed us Monday so irrigation season is in full swing. Our new drains here on 13 have been bone dry and asking for supplemental water all spring. As is the story with our Virginia clay, wet all winter and hard as a rock all summer!
Our wall to wall pre-emerge herbicide for goosegrass and grub control application went down this week. Having our sprayers utilizing GPS mapping and being able to talk to each other is a huge benefit for this 200 acre wide application.
The fans have made their way out on the Manakin. Now all we need is some moisture and real heat so we can turn them on and finally start mowing some bermuda in the rough! The Sabot fans will come out next week and it will take us a few days to get them wired up and working properly.
Enjoy watching the US Open this week from LA Country Club. It should play almost as hard as the Sabot does. They have Pure Distinction on their greens which is very similar to our Pure Eclipse. The tall fescue looks pretty treacherous around their greens. It will be interesting to see how course setup slows these birdies down as we get into the weekend!