Fall golf is here!

 

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 lowering the edges this well help the water move off the path and go into drainage in surrounding areas.   

In the meantime, the Manakin team has been working to freshen up some of our smaller, highly visible woodchip beds. While woodchips aren’t quite the same as mulch, they’re a great way to make use of the material from our tree work throughout the year.

The first of two new John Deere 2400 triplex mowers has arrived! These machines are part of our capital renewal plan for 2026, and we’re still awaiting delivery of another tractor, a topdresser, and a fairway aerator. Having updated equipment is an integral part of maintaining the golf courses at a high level, not to mention keeping the mechanics happy.

Even with some cooler mornings settling in, we still have plenty of great golfing weather left this year. Enjoy what’s shaping up to be another beautiful weekend here at Hermitage Country Club!