Some good golf coming our way
The heat is still on as we look forward to two big events next week. The USGA will be on site this coming Monday holding a U.S. Mid-Am Qualifying event and then the 81st Valentine Invitation will take place Friday through Sunday. There has been plenty of preliminary coverage of the Valentine on Instagram and that will continue through the event. This will be a great week showcasing your golf courses to some of the best golfers on the east coast!
This past Monday we again knocked down a large list of beneficial cultural practices. The approaches on the Manakin were lightly topdressed as well as some select areas on the Sabot. In the peak heat and humidity of the summer the latitude likes to scalp so the sand helps alleviate that, giving more space between the mower reel and stems of the plant.
The greens were also topdressed lightly for a third week in a row. A thunderstorm rolled through at 2:30 and washed everything in perfectly.
We went ahead and verticut and topdressed the chipping green fairway on Monday. It needed it, and it is one less thing we have to worry about on the 28th - 30th when we do the Sabot short grass and aerate the greens.
3 years ago today we were at Bayville checking out their nursery of different bentgrasses and solidifying our choice for Pure Eclipse on the Sabot. Bayville has since undergone a full renovation, seeded their greens to Pure Eclipse and very much enjoying that decision.
Our Pure Eclipse again has been great through the summer and it also may be proving to be a little better at ballmark recovery. We will aerate these greens with small 1/4" coring tines on the 28th and topdress them with a medium amount of sand for our fall aeration.
Growth regulator along with some iron was applied this week to all 85 acres of short grass across both properties. The regulator will slow the bermuda down so we can keep clipping yield manageable as we get through the last few weeks of summer. A 58 degree night will also slow it down but another high 90 degree day on Monday will have the bent sweltering and the bermuda loving life. Summer in Richmond! See you out here next week enjoying some golf!