Hermitage CC Golf Course Management

  We have now clicked over 14 inches of rain since December 1st and have not had many stretches over 5 days with out a rain drop. Our patience is wearing thin on the pickleball project so we decided to cover the fill area with tarps early in the week. Today (Thursday) we worked all day hauling softer soil up to the dump. This extra 6-8 inches will give us more depth for gravel and enable us to firm this area up enough for asphalt. Geo fabric will be laid down tomorrow and then stone will be compacted back into this cut out area. This should defend against having rain slow us up any more and be on the path to completion. The asphalt company is about two to three weeks out and then the pavement has to cure for 30 days before it can be painted and played on.  On the other side of the complex our guys graded out the mud and sodded the area with tall fescue. Stone walkways were laid in between each court to give solid access to the rear entry steps. Fabric and larger cobble stones ...

  There was no shortage of freezing temperatures this week. The sun keeps creeping higher and higher but 25 degrees made sure the bermuda could stay dormant. Manakin irrigation moved on to 13 this week. A week without rain meant we could dig up every head on 13 almost in one day. The wire pulling and connection process continues to move along well. The only heads left on this side of the gas line are on 6 fairway now. This coming Monday we will knock out 5 and 13 greens and then work on 6 fairway. If all goes well we may be finished in two weeks time. There are only 100 heads left to dig and wire up! In normal golf maintenance news we were finally able to get a light topdressing down on the greens on Tuesday. The sand was lightly brushed in and should help alleviate the ballmark impact for a bit. Sabot greens aeration with 1/4" tines is scheduled for March 18th. The freeze thaw continues to be a hinderance up at the pickleball area. The moist clay on the fill side of the courts ju...

  Even after another 1.5" of rain fell this past Sunday, and a miserable day of drizzle Monday, the guys have made it up to the gas line on 5 this week. That is about 100 more holes dug and filled back in leaving less than 150 heads left to dig and wire up over the next few weeks. The natural gas line actually consists of 3 huge pipes carrying gas from West Virginia to who knows where. No electrical lines can run over the gas pipes but we will use an existing conduit pipe to run the new wire through and then connect all the heads on the other side of the line. The wire has weaved through the trees between 5 and 6. A line has to be trenched when in close proximity to the trees as the plow will not cut through the roots. It is nice to have the sun out to help dry things up again! Our pickleball area is soaked again but at least it is on grade and the water ran off pretty nicely. Our last hurdle before we can get some stone down and not have to worry about the mud anymore is getting ...

  The lack of rain this week finally allowed us to get back on to the pickleball area and finish up the grading. Freezing temperatures still lock up the soil here and keep it from drying out but we have been able to work it in to shape. The storm that hammered California a few days ago is tracking our way though and while it is only supposed to drop less than an inch of rain we are moving quickly to try and get some gravel down on this exposed soil. Cooler temperatures will be back for the next two weeks so we will back into a waiting pattern for electrical and asphalt work. The paddle guys have made plenty of progress since last Friday. 80 tons of gravel was conveyed in to go underneath the entire paddle area. The aluminum beams are set on top of the ground anchors and then the court floor pieces that are pre-painted are set in to place. The fitness parking lot is full of pieces for the paddle courts, among a myriad of other construction items. The first court is up with lights an...

  Not even Arizona could escape winter temperatures, wind and rain last week for our national Golf Course Superintendents Association of America conference. Luckily we had a few nice days and were able to get on a number of spectacular facilities. The Renegade course at Desert Mountain features TWO difference green complexes on every hole. With 7 sets of tees the possibilities are endless. Each complex is extremely well done and makes for a very entertaining yet playable golf course. DM has 7 courses in total for its very active 2150 golfing memberships. Scottsdale National was another unbelievable property where the views were constantly breathtaking. Averaging about 30 rounds a day with 36 holes and an insane 9 hole par 3 course, the home of PXG stays in immaculate condition. Being able to knock it around some great courses with the industries top superintendents from across the country was time well spent! The annual trade show does keep us trapped inside for an entire day but g...

  The week started off with another drop of cold air, again reaching deep into the teens. Our bentgrass greens have not been this dormant in a number of years. The hardening off this winter is a good thing as the plant can build up stress tolerance mechanisms that it will again call on in the heat of the summer. The profiles finally thawed out Wednesday so after the rain today we'll see if any brown tissue mows off them on Friday. The frozen ground early in the week allowed us to get moving on some more tree removals. As in the past, all of our tree removals are focused on improving sun light and air movement for the turf along with making sure trees are healthy and not causing any safety hazards. Here on 13 Manakin we were able to get a little more sunlight on the landing area which should help more with keeping this area dryer and be able to wake up in the spring a little quicker. With the ground thawing Wednesday the guys jumped out and finally got the irrigation wired up on 11 ...

  Two inches of snow materialized quickly Monday night, in front of the first real artic blast of the season. The snow blanket may of helped insulate the bermuda just slightly as some 12 degree air bombed in Wednesday night. Our guys are not used to being cooped up inside but that's what we were relegated to this week. Dunstano and Carlos have also been keeping Carlos' brothers Mario and Fortino plenty busy helping work through preventative maintenance on the equipment fleet. In the snow on Tuesday we ran out and collected all the flagsticks, benches, tee markers and bunker rakes. The benches have been sanded down and a more protective coat of paint has been applied. The white tees were taken off last week and brought to the powdercoating company in Ashland. This week we also took them the gold tees since they were in the second worst shape. The other four colors were sanded down this week and painted here at the shop. We should have our four colors back out next week for the w...