Dialed In for Club Championship!
We are dialed in and getting ready for Club Championship this week! Prep is almost complete, and green speeds are hovering around 13 on both courses. It’s always fun doing setup and working with pins on two vastly different designs. With speeds like these, Sabot requires a little more attention to exact pin locations. For instance, on the #7 green, we have been skipping rolling behind the mowers to help meter the speeds on that green. Unfortunately, it doesn’t have too many good locations when speeds get on the higher end, so we have to be a little more careful with our setup.
The heavy dews every morning have prevented us from really firming things up, but the recent sunshine and a little bit of wind have helped dry things out. We are getting close to where we want to be, and the guys are finishing up the last details to get everything ready for the weekend.
As some of you have seen on the Daily Conditions Sheet that the Golf Staff sends out every morning, our frequency of mowing bermudagrass has decreased recently. We would love to shave down the bermuda to get it a little bouncier for Club Championship, but with the cold mornings we have been experiencing, we have to maintain higher heights of cut and decrease our mowing frequency to make sure we have some grass left on the fairways this winter. We have had a few close calls with frost, along with a light frost in the rough in some of the lower areas. We have to be careful this time of year, and protecting the bermuda for winter is more important than trying to squeeze out a little extra speed right now.
Fall decorations are going out, and the guys are getting the Spooky Trail ready for the Halloween events.
The range overseed is looking good and should really start to pop as the bermuda begins to go dormant.
The boys headed up to the VT River Course yesterday to support the VGCSA’s fall Toys for Tots event and are back today to finish preparations for the weekend.
As a reminder, the front nine of Sabot will be closed beginning November 3rd. The dam work is scheduled to start then, with the contractor expecting to need 6–8 weeks to complete its portion of the project. After that, our in-house crew will come in to complete the final float, grassing, irrigation, and finish work. This work is highly dependent on winter weather, but hopefully everything cooperates and we can get it done as quickly as possible.
We will be focusing a lot of labor on the front nine of Sabot during this couple-month closure to take advantage of the opportunity to complete additional tree work, drainage improvements, and other projects while the holes are closed. Matt is working on the tee sheet specifics to temporarily operate a 27-hole facility while this work is going on.
This project is required by the state, and although it’s not something we’re super excited we have to do, hopefully we can maximize the opportunity and make the most of it. Once the construction work is complete, we are planning on installing one long, continuous Zoysia tee to give us some additional setup options on that hole.
Finally, after course setup this Sunday, I will be heading up to Charlottesville and Farmington for the Carolinas vs. Virginias team match, the Verlina Cup. The Virginia team will be looking to keep the cup in Virginia after last year’s victory in hostile territory at Wildcat Cliffs in Highlands, NC.
Virginia Team
Jake Arborgast – Bayville GC
Damian Beasley – Two Rivers CC
Scott Cornwell – Fredericksburg CC
James Goble – Williamsburg National GC
Rhett Martin – Farmington CC
Jeff Whitmire – Williamsburg GC
Cameron Yancey – Nottoway River CC
Brent Graham – Hermitage CC
Carolinas Team
Steve Agazzi – Charleston Municipal
Riley Boyette – Carolinas CC
Terry English – Kiawah Island Resort
Chris Hargrove – Woodside CC
Ryan Hull – Anderson Creek GC
Micah Pennypacker – Carmel CC
Bradley Pope – Prestonwood CC
Nick Price – Camden CC
Sunday will be a practice round followed by the pairings party. Monday features 18 holes of Four-Ball followed by 18 holes of Foursomes, with singles matches on Tuesday. We are looking forward to a great few days of competition and hopefully bringing the cup home to Virginia again!
As a quick follow-up on last week’s much-anticipated match/exhibition, Grant Lowery fired a bogey-free, 2-under-par round from the Gold tees on the front nine of Manakin, beating the betting line by almost 10 strokes! We had quite the gallery watching this battle with the Golf Shop and the maintenance staff. It was an inspiring round of golf, as Grant looked like Tiger Woods during the 1997 Masters. Pure lights out! His chest is still puffed out, and he’s pretty proud of himself. Mark Jr.’s 59 on Sabot and Grant’s 34 from the Gold tees are almost comparable. Great week of golf for the Herm!
Good luck to everyone competing in Club Championship this weekend! The courses are dialed in, the greens are rolling, and we are looking forward to seeing everyone out there. Enjoy the weekend, and we’ll see you on the course!