Sabot verticutting complete, bring on September!
Both golf courses really showed off this past weekend for the 82nd Valentine Invitational. It was great to watch some top quality golfers enjoy some excellent conditions as we got very lucky with the cooler weather.
As the "crowds" left Sunday we knew what was on deck for this week. The reason both courses are able to achieve a high level of conditioning in August is because of a variety of things but mostly because of a commitment to proper cultural practices. Staying ahead of these chores, aerating when the greens are in great shape, verticutting when the bermuda is stout, churns out healthy and consistent surfaces year round.
The small 1/4" cores were blown off quickly, 9 holes each day Monday and Tuesday, beating the heat that came on after lunch.
Dry sand was spread a single time over as soon as the green was cleaned and fertilized with calcium and potassium.
With the heat working, the brush went through quickly and knocked some sand down. A random thunderstorm hit Monday afternoon which also helped with the sand falling into the holes. Our spring aeration is where we really concentrate on filling the aeration holes. Running the brush too much now in August to fill every hole results in too much bruising.
The Pure Eclipse should recover and fill in nicely over the next two weeks.
At the same time the verticutters were out slicing up the tees, approaches and fairways on the Sabot. Different from aerating, verticutting helps promote a denser bermudagrass surface by cutting through stolons and creating new growth points. The vamont here on the Sabot has gotten noticeably better over the years from this process. The topdressing sand that goes down afterwards has helped keep the surface firm in the summer and plenty playable through the winter.
The resulting debris or sprigs are blown in to the rough, swept up and hauled to the debris pile.
250 tons of sand were spread evenly over all the fairways, tees and approaches.
Once the sand is brushed in, the mowers come back out and perform a dry cut. This cut further tightens down the new surface after the brush stands up plenty of extra bermuda stolons. We are thankful for this week of heat as the recovery for the bermuda should be relatively quick. Next year we are looking to move this process forward in the year to after Men's Member Guest so that we enjoy the results a little more in the season. The Sabot should be playing well for this long weekend, especially if we get a little more rain tonight to wash things in.
Keep your eyes open for the Fall Armyworm this year! We are seeing more and more eggs on the tee markers and flags which means there could be a lot more in the woods and native areas. We are keeping the rough mowers going for a little cultural control and watching out for new caterpillars.
Check out former Manakin super Nick Schieble mowing his brand new greens out in St. Louis at Persimmon Woods Golf Club. The new bent grasses are unbeatable! Enjoy your holiday weekend!