SUPERINTENDENT'S CORNER A NOTE FROM YOUR SEDGEFIELD SUPERINTENDENT I don’t think I have ever been so excited for a new year to start and we can all hopefully put 2020 behind us and look forward to a brighter future! Everything was not all doom and gloom in 2020 for our agronomic department. We were able to make quite a few improvements to your club last year. We continued to assess some drainage issues throughout the course and installed quite a few new french drain systems and catch basins that really made a difference. This really helped #5 fairway on the right side in the landing zone and also #14 fairway. We went through and resurfaced all our walk bridges throughout the course making them much safer and stable to walk on and also resurfaced the cart bridge on #17 that had several rotten boards. The new native areas on holes #1,#2, #3, #6, #8 we added have matured and started to look better. These areas will look much better as we get into early summer, as these plants will be mature enough to produce the tall seed stalk that makes our native areas look beautiful and rustic. Next, we purchased some land behind the #14 tee and cleared it out to install a new tee box on the new lot, and it turned out great. The new tee box allows for the hole to now play between 505-530 yards long. It was great to see the PGA Tour players this year hitting long irons and even hybrids into the green instead of the usual 9 or 8 iron. I saved the best for last which is the addition of our new short game facility that was funded by Mark Brazil and the folks at Wyndham. This project had lots of hurdles we had to jump over to get it completed in such a short time frame but it all came together and we were able to open the new facility for the week of the Wyndham Championship. The transformation of that area has been completely amazing and has gotten reviews from the Tour players and also from our membership. It’s great to ride by in the afternoons and see people there working on their different shots to help improve their short game. As we move into 2021 we plan on installing some additional drainage on the right side of #5 in the rough where there are 2 different natural springs that have newly surfaced this year causing some issues that we hope to resolve. There are some other small wet spots that we will address as well throughout the course this winter. We also plan on starting a project this winter to limb up some of our trees around the course that has unsightly sucker growth or low hanging limbs on them. This will not only help the health of the trees but also help with the turf growth. There are a couple of bunkers that we are going to address as they have become contaminated with stones and the bunker on #8 that drainage has been compromised and is not functioning properly. It will take several days to complete each bunker from start to finish, so please play these as Ground Under Repair until we are completed with our work. Lastly, we hope to start raising the sprinkler heads around the greens and making them level with the turf again. We did this 5 years ago but with the aggressive topdressing program we are on with the greens, these areas have risen to the point where we need to perform this task again.
A NOTE FROM YOUR CARDINAL SUPERINTENDENT As we are now in the heart of winter, I am sure most of you are ready to see some warmer weather, no frost delays, and green grass. Spring is coming, but we still have a few months of winter golf ahead which means we ask you to please remain mindful of a few key things. Please obey the cart rules daily and follow all traffic control signs and stakes on the golf course. All carts should be on the cart path around the tees and greens. This is one of the most important things that you can do to help minimize damage and prevent winter kill. Also, please be patient with us and the pro shop staff on any delays to your starting time. Frost delays are a part of winter golf in North Carolina and are only done to protect the greens from any damage. Hopefully, you have been able to come out and see the headway the agronomy team has been making on tree removals around the course. While we are mostly focused on removing the dead trees on the course we are also trying to clear some areas around greens to help with sunlight and airflow. This is being done not only to improve the growing environment in the summer months but also to help melt frost in the winter. There is lots of tree work to be done here at The Cardinal, and it is more than we can do in one winter. We have prioritized this work and we are starting with the areas we feel are most important. Once we get closer to spring we will be working on several drainage projects around the course. The reason for waiting is because these areas will need to be sodded, and waiting until we are closer to warmer weather is best for the sod. I hope that you are able to find some warm days to come out and enjoy playing some golf. Happy New Year and I will see you on the course. The next Greens Aerification will be March 1st and 2nd. Ross Jernigan
All in all 2020 was a successful year for us agronomically and we are excited to enter 2021 and continuing to make improvements to your golf course. Chad Cromer A drone shot of Sedgefield's new Short Game Facility during the fan-free 2020 Wyndham Championship
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