More Rain, Outings, and Fall Aeration

 

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 uncovered, we decided not to tackle it before heading into the weekend. Instead, we valved it off and monitored it until Monday.  Once we dug in, the problem became clear, the pipe wasn’t set into the valve perfectly straight. Because of that misalignment, water was slowly seeping through the gap between the crooked pipe and the valve. After noticing this, it was clear we needed to bring in the mini-excavator to speed this process up. 

Sloan was able to walk the mini-ex out and get started on digging before the outing. Roberto opted to stay behind to keep hand-digging to clear the pressurized pipe that feeds the rough heads right of 15 and our new irrigation wire. Thankfully, we were able to dig back far enough to install a repair coupler and straighten up the connection where the pipe meets the valve. Fingers crossed this fix holds strong for many more years to come.

On to the fun stuff. Monday we took advantage of the Manakin putting green being closed to get a head start on setting up the aeration machines. We adjusted them for 2-inch spacing with 1/8-inch tines. Tuesday morning, it was game time. We fired up the machines first thing and thanks to an amazing crew were able to finish everything up in just one day.

The process starts with pulling cores, blowing and cleaning the entire green. From there, we apply our soil amendments, top-dress, brush everything in, roll, and finally watering to wash it all in.

We were able to apply roughly 38 tons of  kiln-dried sand, working it evenly into the canopy of the Manakin greens. 

We chose to use a 1/8-inch tine primarily for the faster recovery time. They pull enough material to get a quality aeration completed without the prolonged recovery that comes with a bigger tine. Our goal is to have the greens rolling true and fully recovered in time for the Senior Member-Guest in just two weeks. With the recent rains, we’re hopeful the sand will wash in enough to allow us to get a mow on the greens before the weekend. Have good weekend!