More rain but with some cool weather behind
Why not get clobbered with rain one more time for July!? This small storm snuck up from the south and just dropped a half inch in about 20 minutes. More is on the way and then we should see some cooler temps, especially at night over the next 7 days.
We tried to beat the rain with some topdressing sand on the greens but only got through 15 on the Sabot before getting pounded the first time. Wetter sand is going out now on the Manakin which hopefully will get washed in by the next storm. Topdressing bentgrass can not be done in the heat so it has been a while since we were able to get this done. The sand helps relieve some "puffiness" of the bent in the tropical environment we have been operating in and may help slightly with ballmarks.
The difference between Manakin greens with and without fans is stark now. The humidity and soil temperatures have been oppressive but the fans bring the tropical weather back down to sub tropical. It is hard to remember but the greens with fans on them now used to be the worst behaving greens. Now they are the best and in a year with record high dew points and humidity all older bentgrass without a fan suffers. Next year we will be proposing to go ahead and have fans on every hole (7 more) on the Manakin.
While the main focus is keeping the greens alive in the heat we are also trying to keep 90 acres of short cut bermudagrass under control. In addition to getting another application of pre-emerge out between last week and this week, we were also able to get a fresh application of growth regulator out. The regulator helps reduce clippings and scalping and gives a better appearance to the fast growing bermuda.
Our selective herbicide application is starting to work in the native areas on the common bermuda. In the heat the tall and fine fescues really can't compete with native bermuda. We will probably be putting down another herbicide application soon and then look to scalp down and reseed a few natives with fine fescue this early fall.
Our new electric Manager carts have arrived. At our 5 year lease swap in the spring, the John Deere/Yamaha lithium carts were delivered but were running out of battery shortly after lunch. Those electric carts were returned. These new EZGO Cushman lithium carts can go 50 miles on a charge which is plenty of juice to get us around the property all day long.
On Monday the entire staff was treated to an on property Employee Appreciation Party. After lunch, golf and pickleball were available and we also got some soccer in at an undisclosed location. Afterwards everyone was able to bring their families to the pool and enjoy some games and pizza. Our team had a ton of fun and it was great to see everyone get to enjoy the facility that they work so hard on day in and day out.
Enjoy some cooler mornings this weekend!