Hermitage CC Golf Course Management

  The weather has been nothing short of amazing over the past week. A couple quick shots of rain have kept both courses growing and coming into their summer color. Temperatures back into the 50's will keep clipping yield down on the bermuda and green speeds up on the bentgrass. Our bi-weekly summer soil applications on the greens started in May. Every other Monday fungicides for pythium along with beneficial soil nutrients like calcium and manganese (a lot of people don't know what that is) are washed down into the greens profile to protect our roots against degradation as the summer heats up. Speaking of strong roots, the trees have won here on the top of the hill on 2 Manakin. We have created beds here and are mulching around the drip lines of the trees. We are deep into tournament season now and with Men's Member Guest set for next week the Manakin guys have been continuing to edge pine straw beds and tighten up many of the outer lying areas of the course. Sprinkler head...

  The tractor aerators made their way through all the Manakin fairways this week. The solid tines were going down about 3 inches for our annual aeration. This is a clean and fast process, knocking out about 50 acres of turf in less than three days. These holes should help keep water moving through the upper profile as we dry out in the summer while also promoting longer root growth so that the Latitude can draw water from deeper into the soil. All three 648 aerators were out as well punching holes in tee tops and all around the greens. Efrain, David and Raul all put in 20 miles a day to get everything completed before the end of the day Tuesday. Ryan put down a light dusting of sand on the Manakin greens Tuesday while we were closed. Ballmarks have closed in nicely over the last three weeks and the light topdressing should help the greens continue to putt smoothly. Here is a great picture of what is going on out in the rough this spring. In the foreground the vamont bermuda is gree...

  This past weekend hosted some of the best weather of the year so far. Cool and dry made for some great playing conditions. 1.2" of rain Tuesday evening brought some moisture back in but nothing that either course wasn't ready for. The greens are rolling great and the rough is starting to show some life while our herbicides are shrinking the Poa down. The Manakin will be closed Monday and Tuesday so that we can poke some solid tine holes in the fairways like we did on Sabot two weeks ago. Again, this should go relatively unnoticed by the golfer. Boomer is enjoying the Zoysia being awake again around the bunkers. We are in what pretty much equates to a full on mowing schedule again. Our summer staff is on board and ready to pick up Boomers slack! The big project for the week was to get the pool kitchen area prepped and sodded before the rain came on Wednesday. A truck load of Northbridge bermuda was delivered Tuesday morning and this area is close to being buttoned up and read...

  The big aerators knocked out the Sabot fairways early in the week, poking 5/8" wide holes about 3" into the soil. This annual event helps the bermuda strengthen its root system as we head into the growing season. Manakin fairways will receive the same treatment in two weeks. After a mow this aeration is basically unnoticeable by the golfer. The walk behind aerators took care of solid tine aerating all the tees and approaches. They are able to go a little tighter on their spacing and are much easier to maneuver around the greens and tee slopes. And when we say walk behind aerator we are not kidding! David was running one of the three 648 aerators and clocked in over 22 miles on Tuesday!  Our annual compost application went out in the rough this week as well. The humid air made it difficult to spread in the mornings but that also kept the dust and the smell down. This application is the base of our fertility in the rough for the year, putting down about 1 pound of nitrogen pe...

  Sabot Superintendent Ben Longest picked the right day to get married to his new bride Nikki last Friday. A cool sunny day let the two tie the knot and then head west to Primland for their honeymoon. Back to reality on Monday buddy! It has been hot and dry on our side of the state this week which has made for some pretty firm fairways out there. Night time soil temps are still in the mid-60's so the rough is still a ways from waking up.  The Manakin greens are getting close to fully healed. The fairways and approaches have great color for May, and that really goes for both courses! We had a few things on our Monday outing list this week to get done. The guys dug a well water line in for a new shoe cleaner for the clay tennis courts. When you push down on the black stick water jets will clean off the bottom of your shoes. We may have to put one of these in at the new shop! With the outside of the new pool kitchen pretty much done we have been working to reconnect and install n...