Bermuda, Time to Clock In
After weeks of watching rain chances disappear from the forecast, we finally got a little glimmer of hope this week with our spring weather woes. Monday the campus received right at 1" of slow, steady rainfall, followed by another 0.2" Wednesday and just a trace today. We’ll gladly take it. This rain was a much needed help for the operation, but we’re still sitting roughly 8" behind for the year.
Monday also started with a light topdress on Sabot greens to try and smooth out some of those tiny baby bumps left behind from aeration.
The guys and girls have also been absolutely crushing it on the bunkers lately — they have been looking and playing great! If you see them out on the course thank them. Bunkers are not easy!
Now that the driving range is finally back on grass — much later than normal because of the cold nighttime temperatures and the bermuda not really growing — it seems like the range has become the single most popular spot on campus. 8am or 6pm… it’s usually packed. We topdressed all the divots today… and there were a few. It’s really important to try and concentrate divots as much as possible to maximize the amount of time we can stay on the turf. Without question, a larger grass tee is an opportunity for future improvement to help accommodate all the traffic we continue to see.
This spring has been completely miserable for growing bermudagrass, but the poa has absolutely been loving life. We’ve been waiting for the bermuda to get more established before spraying any herbicides to eliminate the poa. Bermudagrass can become extremely sensitive to herbicide injury during transition periods in and out of dormancy, so patience is important this time of year. Hopefully next week we’ll finally have some competition for the poa when the bermuda wakes up. They’re calling for highs in the mid 90s and lows near 70 — that should really get things moving!
This guy picked the wrong Manakin tee to visit. Raul, the mole wisperer, made quick work of this one making a mess on #2 tee.
On another note, the picture attached is just a small example of the trash our crews continue to pick up on and around the teeing grounds every day. THIS HANDFULL WAS PICKED UP ON 1 TEE! This week alone, crews filled an entire 4-gallon bucket with broken tees found throughout the golf courses. Zyns, broken tees, cigarette butts… all litter and all trash. Please do your part to help us keep the courses clean and presentable for everyone.
