Happy November
We are grazing high temperature records and now going on close to 40 days without any real rain. We are running water where its needed but the bermuda is getting closer and closer to turning off color and going dormant for the winter. Here on 9 Manakin it is easy to see where we cut the roots of this pine tree when we were running irrigation wire last winter.
The dry weather reduces complications when it comes to project work. With the new fiscal year upon us the Manakin crew jumped right into renovating their remaining bunkers.
All the sand and old drainage pipe and gravel is removed and the original edge of the bunker is re-established. Most of these bunkers have lost 18-24" off their bottom edge over the past 20 years.
The old drain lines are dug slightly deeper and the bottom of the bunkers are shaved down at least 2 inches to make room for the permeable concrete liner. You can tell it was the first week of winter projects since the guys got about twice as much done as was expected. All 4 bunkers on 18 were dug out and ready for concrete by Wednesday afternoon.
Sloan and new Manakin Assistant Superintendent Will Lannon lead the crew through spreading 36 cubic yards of concrete (about 72 tons) through all 4 bunkers on 18 before lunch on Thursday.
This permeable concrete liner allows water to flow through at over 100" an hour. Just like in all the bunkers we have done already, the liner eliminates sand washing off the face and reduces contamination from our red clay soils. New sand will start to fill these bunkers on Friday and in to next week. For this week all 4 bunkers should be considered ground under repair.
With the concrete down the guys kept on moving over to 17. By the end of next week we should have all 9,000 square feet of bunkers on 17 dug out and ready for concrete. We will keep on going as the weather allows!
Not to be passed over in the dry weather the Sabot crew broke the trencher back out on the bottom of 3 fairway on Monday.
Last year we put a drain in further up the fairway but this lower shelf still liked to stay wet after a heavy rain. All the soil was removed by hand and the trench was backfilled with gravel pipe and sand.
The lines will be sodded over in the spring and with some more selective tree removals on tap for the left side of the fairway this hole will continue to get better.
The trencher will move over to 12 Sabot on this coming Monday to address the problem area in front of 12 silver tee. David and Johnathan thought they had the easy job of exposing a larger existing drain pipe to tap next weeks drain into until they figured out that pipe has been clogged for a very long time. This obviously added to the wetness in this area as the water remained trapped on the right side of the path and not able to get into the native area. We will have everything fixed up and working correctly by early next week.
Enjoy the beautiful golf weather while you can, it will not be here for ever!