First Frost and Dormancy in Route

We had our first frost on the bermudagrass last Friday morning. While it didn’t delay play, it certainly set up on the Latitude enough to start putting some of our bermudagrass around the property to sleep for winter. Dormancy is now officially underway for the bermudagrass as we head deeper into the fall season. 

As the bermudagrass starts to lose its color, our green divot sand does not! We’ll begin phasing out the use of the green divot mix for the winter months ahead and transition back to our regular Kyanite sand until we start to green up in the spring.

Over on the Manakin, we took advantage of the last Monday of the month to get out a much-needed light topdressing. Having the course closed and outing-free made it much easier to work this into the schedule. With rain in the forecast later in the week, it was a no brainer to get a light dusting on the greens and let the rain wash it into the canopy. The sand helps create a smoother surface, improves firmness, minimizes ball marks, and enhances overall soil structure. Plenty of benefits come with this practice, and we were glad to get it done ahead of the rain.

The “not-so-outing-free” Sabot team had to clear the course for what should be the last Monday outing of the year. They were able to tackle some nuisance trees around the shop area. One tree in particular had never been an issue in the past, but with the completion of the Clubhouse Maintenance building, it had become more of an obstacle than anything else, so it was time for it to come down. 

Ben was able to make his way over to #5 Manakin to take down a couple of trees we’ve had marked for a while. The crew was able to get three trees cut, chipped, and cleared out before 9 o’clock, another great example of why it’s so valuable to have the right equipment in-house to handle these jobs safely and efficiently.

We also took advantage of the incoming rain to get some gypsum out on a few tee areas over on the Manakin. The calcium in gypsum replaces the sodium attached to clay particles, and as the displaced sodium is washed deeper into the soil, it helps reduce compaction and improve overall soil structure. We have been and plan to continue getting small amounts of gypsum on these tees as often as we are able. 

Our final fall foliar fertilizer application went out at the beginning of the week. As air and soil temperatures continue to drop, these nutrients will help maintain bermudagrass plant health heading into dormancy and should help promote stronger recovery when spring arrives. This will be our last round of any sort of fertilizer on the bermudagrass this year. The sprayers will be out once more for our winter pre-emergent herbicide application next month. 

With our fiscal year coming to a close, we had a little money left over and decided to rent a lift for the day. There were a few branches that were just too high to reach with the skid-loader, so we put the extra funds to good use. We were able to limb up some trees with dead branches that had been an eyesore for far too long, it was great to finally get out and get them taken care of. 

Tree work behind the range was continued this week, with plenty more still to come down in that area. We’ve been marking trees that need to be removed, getting them cut, cleaned up, and out of the way before heading back in to mark even more trees that need to come out. Breaking up the work in stages has been, and will continue to be, an ongoing process until we get all the trees that need to be delt with behind the range. 

Last but certainly not least, we have another departure here at Hermitage Country Club. Stephen, thank you for everything you’ve done for the club during your time here. You’ve made a lasting impact on both our department and the club as a whole. We wish you and your family all the best as you begin your next adventure in Texas. Tomorrow will be Stephen’s last day on property, so please join us in thanking him for all he’s contributed over the years.

The sun is back out, and the weekend forecast still looks warm enough to get out and enjoy a round of golf!  A quick reminder as we head into November next week - the cart “exit” signs on either side of the fairways will be going back out, and all par 3s will be restricted to cart-path only for the winter months. Have a great weekend!