Big post Member Guest maintenance week, ready for summer!
The weather over the past week has been outstanding for golf. Member Guest shaped up perfectly with firm fairways and greens that provided a fun challenge for all. We worked hard Saturday and Sunday to get a little moisture back into the greens before the aerators came out for their post MG venting Monday. Tiny 1/8" cores were popped out, providing excellent opportunity for our bentgrass to take one final breath and shoot some roots down before the hot and humid weather rolls in.
The tiny cores were simply blown off and scooped up with a shovel. No additional sand was applied but we did put down some gypsum and potassium and washed it into the profile.
All 39 greens were aerated, rolled, amended and ready for play Wednesday morning.
The greens are all putting great again already. Our small holes are major insurance for a successful summer!
You may or may not see some talk about the USGA GS3 ball this week during the US Open. We have been using it for a few months and it provides some pretty solid data about our greens. The ball is basically a gyroscope that measures green speed, green firmness and also measures deviation from left to right and if the ball is bouncing up and down.
All the data is recorded in an app which makes it easy to track trends and then make decisions about mowing height, rolling frequency and overall green health. A lot depends on the weather, especially as the humidity drops in. Trueness measures left to right deviation and the goal is usually under .5. Smoothness measures up and down bouncing and we want that below 5. Green speed goals are normally in the 11 range but we are always going to put plant health before speed. This data is not too bad considering the aerators ran two days ago!
While the greens were being taken care of we also had the verticutter out tightening up all the approaches on both courses.
Sand topdressing was tossed right into the verticut clippings then brushed in and the debris blown clean. This process keeps the approaches tight and prevents scalping for a few weeks as the bermuda starts to get full of water as the humidity builds.
In the same light all fairways and approaches were sprayed with growth regulator and a tiny amount of fertilizer to help with clipping management and scalping.
Joe put a nice line around the Manakin greens trying to keep the Latitude separate from the bentgrass.
The fans are back out around the greens for the summer season. Grant and Ian are working hard to get them wired back up and running properly. Removing and putting back all 20 fans and disconnecting power and irrigation system communication every year is a serious chore. The fans are a huge part of summer insurance program on our greens with minimal air movement. The manufactured air keeps canopy temperatures down up to 10 degrees and that makes a serious difference in keeping cool season bentgrass alive in the summer.
The base for 12 Manakin fan was moved back a few feet to give our mower some more room and hopefully get out of the way of that right bunker shot to a back pin.
A few Sabot team members worked this week to get paint on the walls and apply epoxy to the floor of the breakroom floor. We are out of the way now so that the electricians and plumbers can finish everything off.
Overall both courses are in great shape and we hope you can make it out and enjoy the conditions along with the US Open and Fathers Day! Have a great weekend!