Drying back out, enjoying some moderate summer weather!
Even though the grass doesn't care what day it is we all tried to have a little fun for Employee Appreciation day this past Monday. After a classic GCM taco cookout for lunch we went out to 18 Manakin for a quick putting contest. For many of the staff this was the first time they had ever held a putter so this was not short on entertainment. Some people enjoyed a round of golf on the Manakin afterwards or went and tried out Pickleball. Overall it was an enjoyable day on campus!
We have finally had a handful of days without rain. The sun has been out, the nighttime temperatures have dropped and the golf course is finding its way out of summer nicely. We have continued lightly topdressing the greens on Monday's which has helped keep speeds up and ballmarks down. The Pure Eclipse greens continue to impress as we head in to some more big time tournaments like the USGA Mid-Am qualifier on Monday and the Valentine Invitational next weekend. After the Valentine we will be pulling 1/4" cores out of the Sabot greens and the fairways, tees and approaches will finally receive their verticutting and topdressing.
The end of August always bring an abrupt transition with the summer staff headed back to school. The past two weeks have been filled with edging anything and everything and then hoping the bermuda slows down its growth a bit.
The rough is starting to slow down slightly, especially in the shady areas. The rough mowers have been raised up from 1.75" to 2", their normal fall height.
The recirculation pump on 5 Sabot gave up the ghost this past weekend. The shaft that connects the motor to the pump had worn out rendering both essentially useless. We have ordered a different style pump to replace this one that may hold up a little better but it has not shipped out yet from Texas. For now we have our back up pipe running the stream off of the irrigation system.
It is nice to see the air temperatures drop a few degrees in the mornings compared to the last two months. Both courses have faired well through the summer and we are looking forward to an amazing fall season!