Hermitage CC Golf Course Management

  Two days out from the 125th Anniversary Gala here is your 302nd blog post in Hermitage history. This property continues to get better every day. Not many clubs can say they have been associated for more than 125 years, we are all lucky to be a part of it! We do have some unlucky bermudagrass that has struggled this spring from a tough winter. Almost everywhere that has not greened up yet is in the shade. Some areas are wet all winter and some are dry but shade continues to be the common dominator. Most spots will continue to green up but we will start laying some sod down next week in the worse areas. We budget for a tough winter so tossing a few trucks of sod out to replace weak bermuda is certainly not out of the ordinary. The fly mowers and rough mowers made their first appearance in 6 months after a long winter. We have been running irrigation into the warmer dry weather to try and keep the bermuda moving. Both courses will change quickly over the next month as soil temperatu...

  The weather decided to cooperate this week so we have been able to finish our 103rd and final bunker here on 16 Manakin. We picked up some sod and wrapped the bunker on Monday. The concrete showed up Wednesday and 5 yards was the perfect amount to finish this bunker off. Most of these guys have been here for the past 5 years of bunker work. This is the last concrete they should see for a while which was a welcome comment after 75 trucks and close to 700 yards of concrete laid. All smoothed out and ready for sand. Having 36 holes and over 100,000 square feet of bunkers be bulletproof against heavy storms and washing out is a massive benefit for our golfing membership. This is something that is easily forgotten about when 5 inches of rain comes down on a Friday night and the bunkers are playable for Saturday. The infrastructure is there now and will forever be appreciated by our team. The smaller bunker will give much better access to the green here on 16. The sand is in and tamped...

  It has been a long time since we have been rained out of an aeration but this past Monday that is just what happened. 1.5” of rain soaked the campus all day Monday so Tuesday the aerators started making noise at 5am. Just like on the Manakin, 1/4” cores were pulled out of the greens first then blown off and cleaned up.  A variety of different amendments were spread out and then the greens were topdressed heavily. Another two aerators equipped with half inch solid tines went over the dry sand and created nice channels for everything to fall into. This is at least double the amount of sand that was used in past springs which will go a long way in keeping our organic layer functioning properly and allowing water to flow down through the sand based system.  The greens are brushed in, blown off, rolled and then sprayed with a foliage fertilizer package to help them start to recover. They will not be mowed this weekend and will receive their first dry mow on Monday.  The...

  The bermuda is attempting a wake up thanks to a little bit of rain and some 80 degree temps. Cooler weather and some frost is in the forecast for next week however so the mowers are still in a holding pattern for the time being. No matter what the weather does, it is nice to see some green color out there! We are getting closer and closer to completing our bunker renovations. Another two and a half trucks of concrete were poured into the bunkers on 14 and the back bunker on 16 on Monday afternoon. These projects put stress not just on the staff but also on the equipment, the cartpaths and the surrounding turf. We are excited to be close to finishing! This week we had 9 seasonal staff return from prior years and hired just 1 new seasonal staff member. You can see the relief in the full time staffs eyes as the fresh muscles jump in to move concrete around and start to help clean up from the winter. Having so many returning staff is a major benefit for our department. New sand is be...