Making progress as 2023 closes

 

Another massive low pressure system dropped two inches of rain on Sunday but that didn't slow down progress on the Manakin two wire system install. The soil has gotten a little crusty on the top but nothing that stops a shovel or our plow. 

Another 70 heads were dug up here on 8, wired up and backfilled this week. The rough heads that run through the oaks on the right of the hole will need a trench cut for their new wire which will happen in the next two weeks or so. We plan to get the roller back out on 10 and 8 on Friday and smooth everything out again. 11 is up next after the rough on 8 is completed. That will leave 5, 6, 7, 12 and 13 to be done in the new year. The two par 3's in there will be a welcome change!

The paddle sports permit did come through just after we posted the blog last Thursday. Luckily the county inspector was able to meet Friday morning to approve our silt fence and let us get moving finally. The stumps were the first thing in the way so we got the excavator going the rest of the day Friday and Saturday wrestling the stumps out of the ground.

The last of the 75 or so stumps were pulled Monday and hauled over to the dump area left of 1 Sabot. Overall we made quick work here of something that could of easily taken twice as long.

The foundation of the old tennis proshop was the next challenge as somehow over 24" of concrete was poured along the edges. We slapped a jackhammer on one of our track loaders and went to town for the better part of Monday morning. Luckily the middle of the slab was just four inches thick so between the hammer and the excavator we persuaded this concrete across the street as well. 

The biggest part of the project is moving soil from high to low in order to get a flat surface for all 8 pickleball courts and 4 paddle courts. The rain didn't help anything Sunday as a decent amount of muck had to hauled off from the lower areas. The high end near the existing tennis courts has some excellent Virginia red clay in it though. The big machine fed the track loaders soil in order to start leveling things out. 

Things are taking shape and will continue to be tuned in over the next week or so here and there. The respective court builder are due to show up around the week of January 8th so the action will continue then. This is quite a bit of progress for about 5 days worth of work!

There is your 49th blog of the year and 239th in Hermitage history! We hope you are having as much fun on these golf courses as we are. Thank you for reading and cheers to productive and enjoyable 2024! Next blog will be January 11th!