Hermitage CC Golf Course Management

Our winter annual plant order has finally arrived, and Rosa and Angela couldn't be happier! We rounded up the team to help unload the flowers from the truck and get them into the ground. Most of the plants are already in the soil, marking the final major planting of herbaceous material around the property for the year. Early next week, you can look forward to seeing our fall decorations making their way back out. The tractor sprayers got dusted off this week and came out of the shed for our second application targeting spring dead spot.   We use the smaller 200-gallon sprayer for the tees and approaches on both courses. Its more nimble build allows us to access tighter areas with ease. You’ll likely see the sprayers back out in a couple of weeks for what will probably be our final nutrient application on the bermuda-grass this season. The fungicides used to control spring dead spot need to be watered in after application. Since we already needed to run irrigation for this tre...

  A couple weeks ago we had a site visit from the Audubon agency to maintain our certification here at Hermitage. Every 3 years to maintain status you must complete a site visit. The Audubon International Golf Certification is important because it validates a golf courses commitment to environmental stewardship, leading to benefits like improved water and air quality, habitat conservation, reduces maintenance costs, and enhanced public image. It also helps courses implement sustainable practices in areas such as water, wildlife management, and reduction of pesticides and fertilizers. Ensuring the long term health of the eco-system and golf facility.  Senior Member-Guest week kicked off with some bunker work on both golf courses. The Manakin team started by giving all the bunkers a fresh edge, then used the Sand Pro to fluff up the sand. We also took some time to push sand around in the bottoms of the bunkers, especially in the areas where it’s clear most of the shots are being...

  Welcome to October! While we’ve had a few cool mornings earlier this year, nothing has matched the crisp 40° mornings we’ve seen recently. Fall is officially here, and with temperatures continuing to drop, it’s perfect weather for the courses and our bentgrass greens.  To adjust for the weather, we’ve raised the fairway units from .500 to .550, which will carry us smoothly through the rest of the year. Manakin aerification was only 10 days ago, and the recovery on the A1/A4 greens couldn’t be better. We’re very pleased with our decision to use a smaller tine, which allowed for a speedy recovery time.  By the time Senior Member-Guest begins next week, we are confident the greens will be fully recovered. From here, speeds will gradually increase as the surfaces continue to fill in and smooth out.   After all the rain last week, we made some notes on where water tends to sit on the paths. Once things dried out a bit, we decided 6 would be the first one we target. By l...

  Manakin aeration week got off to a slow start with the Virginia Tech Lunch Pail outing falling on the first day of our two-day closure. After setting up both golf courses and clearing out, we were still able to check a few much-needed items off the list. First task being “blowing up” the bentgrass nursery tucked to the left of  3 on Sabot. This nursery is an important tool for us throughout the season, providing plugs to repair damaged areas on both courses, everything from scalped plugs to heron droppings. We’ve made full use of it this year, and it was time to reseed and start fresh for next season. A couple of the guys were also able to get some divots filled in on the range tee. It’s a simple yet effective task, but an important one in keeping the range tee level and well-maintained. Over on the Manakin, we had a not-so-simple task waiting for us. Last Friday, we spotted a leak between 15 and 17 rough. Since you never really know the extent of a leak until it’s uncovere...

           Monday we got off to a great start with some perfect weather. Even though it’s not officially fall yet, the "fall like" weather has been a huge benefit for our bentgrass greens and staff. We were able to remove a good number of trees along the right side of 13 cart path before the not so perfect weather started. With these trees gone it will open up the fairway to more sunlight and help us reduce the risk of winter kill that tends to occur in that area year after year. We also managed to seed a couple of cool season grass areas along with the clubhouse lawn just before the rain moved in. The timing couldn’t have been better, as the moisture should give us a great boost in germination. Tuesday and Wednesday, however, were far from ideal. A rain front settled over the golf course for what felt like an eternity—but in reality was just two days—dropping 2.5 inches of rain and thoroughly soaking both courses. We started Thursday morning with carts re...

  We kicked off maintenance this Monday by removing the fans from both golf courses. With overnight temperatures beginning to drop, we felt it was the right time to get the fans off the course, especially ahead of this weekend’s Member-Member tournament. More importantly, this timing lines up perfectly with our upcoming pre-emergent application around the greens. Having the fans out of the way ensures we get complete and even coverage, helping to prevent any weed breakthrough.  It’s great to have this job checked off the list and the timing couldn’t be better. The team is focusing on fine-detail work across both courses to ensure everything is in top condition for this weekends Men's Member Member. This includes edging all fairway and greens irrigation heads for a cleaner, more defined appearance, as well as edging along sidewalks and drains to enhance the overall presentation of the property.  To stay ahead of the curve, we made a  preventive insecticide applicatio...

This week, we completed our first application for spring dead spot. The second application is scheduled in a couple of weeks. These treatments are done in the fall when soil temperatures begin to cool, as this is when the fungus becomes most active. Targeting it during this period helps maximize the effectiveness of the control measures. Despite the recent lack of rain and low humidity, the new irrigation system on Sabot and the fully operational 2-wire system on the Manakin course have been instrumental in maintaining excellent course conditions. These upgrades have also made watering in our spring dead spot application much more efficient and effective. One week after aerifying the Sabot greens with the 3/8" quarter tines, they’re healing up well thanks to this stretch of great August weather. With the Men's Member/Member coming up next week, they should be rolling nicely. With the recent drop in nighttime temperatures, the Bermudagrass has noticeably slowed its growth. As ...

  The humidity hung around a bit for the Valentine but otherwise the weather shaped up nicely for last weekend and has been gorgeous this week. The drier air helped us get the rough chopped back down to 2.25" and cleaned up for the fall. The best part about the Valentine is that we can squeeze in the fall greens aeration on Sabot immediately after. 3/8" cores were pulled out on Monday and Tuesday mornings this week. We have kept the growth rate low on the Pure Eclipse which has limited thatch buildup but pulling cores in the fall and topdressing will always help stay ahead of the bent getting too soft in season. The smaller cores are easy to blow off and there is no abrasion to the greens surface. Calcium, potassium, humic acid and some other micro nutrients are applied to the soil while we have holes open. Close to 40 tons of kiln dried sand was spread on the Sabot greens. We also took the Monday closure opportunity to solid tine aerate the greens on Manakin that do not have...