A Few Frowns, A Little Frost
Well, it was a week that started with a few more frowns than smiles!
We got back from the Virginia Cup at Farmington Country Club this week with more than one disappointment. Virginia was sitting pretty with a 5-3 lead after the four-ball and foursomes matches, but the Carolinas made a strong push in singles. The final few matches came down to the 18th hole in some very close, stressful, and entertaining fashion. Riley Pope from Prestonwood rolled in a 15-foot putt on the last match of the day, on a brutally above-the-hole putt, to bring the Cup home for the Carolinas. That was frown number one!
Frown number two came Tuesday afternoon when I got back to the course and saw the impact the cold weather has had on our bermudagrass. We haven't had a hard frost just yet, but it's apparent that several close calls with freezing temperatures have taken their toll. The fairways have really started to show signs of traffic stress, both from golfers and maintenance equipment, as the grass begins to slow down for the season.
Perfect timing for my favorite application of the year! We have an application of pigment, Sweet Heat, iron, and molasses going out Monday. This will help the short grass look a little better as we transition into a long winter nap for our bermudagrass.
On the agronomy front, we finished all of our split applications of Spring Dead Spot fungicides and winter pre-emergent herbicides for poa. It's quite a task to get more than 200 acres sprayed, but the boys knocked it right out. Our winter pre-emergent programs feel strong this year, so I guess it's time to see how everything shapes up when it comes to winter poa control. Fingers crossed!
We also started some prep work on the Sabot dam project. We're beginning to cut sod out of the tees so we can relocate it to other areas around campus. No sense in wasting some good grass! All of the irrigation has been dug up and is ready to be protected where possible and accessed for repairs where needed. Hopefully, the weather cooperates and we can get this project completed as quickly as possible and get back to our normal operations.
The greens are also getting some attention as we try to bring them back to reality after the Club Championship. Let's just say the weather has been perfect for maintaining "championship" conditions!
The crew also put in some extra work helping us get ready for our spooky weekend. Between hayrides, mounting and installing decorations, and getting the fall annuals in place, there was plenty going on.
And finally, this weekend will wrap up my golf season for a little while. Sunday afternoon is the final round of the VGCSA Match Play Championship at Kinloch. Coming off a tough loss at the Virginia Cup, we're looking to finish the season on a positive note!
Until next week, enjoy the last few weeks of bermudagrass before it officially calls it a year.