October will remain undefeated
October will always be the best month of the year if you are involved in golf. Crisp, clear mornings bring the stars back out, the moon is out all day long, it never rains, no humidity and 80 degrees supply perfect conditions for golf. No overseeding, no aeration, no ballmarks, just golf!
Not to say we aren't getting plenty of work done as the cool dry weather absent of frost is prime time for maintenance as well. It is hard to resist tossing a tiny bit of sand on the greens. Sabot was done last week and Manakin got a dusting this past Monday. The greens are putting beautifully and without any rain in the forecast should remain pleasantly firm for the foreseeable future.
Grant has had this drainage project around 14 silver tee on the list for a while now and since we were closed until 1 on Monday the Manakin guys got after it.
The trencher cut in a number of lines for subsurface pipe, gravel and sand to fill back up. We also hit 3 different irrigation pipes that were untraceable and not on the as-built map which is always fun. Mowing short grass from the tee to the fairway means that the normally low area between the tee and fairway has to be drained well as to not make a mess after it rains. This area on 14 was notoriously wet so this project will solve that problem.
We have now surpassed the 5 year mark for the Manakin bermudagrass renovation! We are giving up growing bermuda around a few of the trees and are putting mulch back in these thinner areas.
Here between 5 tees and 7 green however we are taking out part of the pine straw bed and putting bermuda in its place. This pine straw was always thin with the wind coming through from the 4 green direction. Grant is adding an irrigation head here to make sure the new bermuda sod stays hydrated.
Sodded, irrigated, roped off and looking clean!
The Manakin guys also prepped out underneath the two oak trees off the tees on 5. We have never been able grow bermuda there so this area has been sodded with fescue and will grow to native area height.
We are making one last push on some cartpath repair before it starts to get cold. Almost 15 tons of hot mix was rolled in this week to help smooth out some bumps.
Enjoy the weather!!