Summer is back
The humidity is back but at least the high temperature has only gone above 90 once this month, on Tuesday this week. Our normal high for August starts at 88 and drops to 84 by the end of the month. Our warm season turf continues to love life and the greens are getting their footing back for the Valentine.
All 39 greens were topdressed again on Monday with kiln dried sand. We have done this 3 times now in August and it has helped tremendously in firming the surface back up.
The less aggressive triplex verticutter made its way around the Manakin approaches on Monday as well. This will most likely be the last time we verticut the latitude this year as the sun angle continues to drop.
Around 40 tons of sand went down after the verticut on the approaches and on some select sod areas from this past spring.
The belt topdresser is used to get close to the greens and in tight areas. All of this sand dried quickly Monday afternoon and was brushed in and any left over debris blown off. The approaches on both courses have provided excellent playing surfaces this summer.
The VSGA was out Monday to update the course rating and slope on the Manakin. The Sabot will be done in September and results will come back in December so the score cards can be updated. Below is a little more detail about the very involved process.
A little extra fertilizer for the Sabot rough went out this week. The Vamont likes to slow down in the fall as Poa annua starts to ramp up. Maintaining a thicker canopy and already having some pre-emerge down should give us a clean start for the winter. It also may or may not create a little more of a challenge for the Valentine players next week.
Most of the Manakin native areas have been mowed shorter for this fall and bermuda continues to bleach out. We will apply another round of herbicide next week then start scalping and seeding areas where the bermuda has tried to take over.
Sprinkler heads on the Manakin were edged early in the week and Sabot is slated to be done Monday.
Looking forward to show off the property a bit next week for the 83rd Valentine Invitational!