SUPERINTENDENT'S CORNER A NOTE FROM YOUR SEDGEFIELD SUPERINTENDENT
A NOTE FROM YOUR CARDINAL SUPERINTENDENT
What an exciting Wyndham Championship we had this year! We had an amazing field this year and it was great to have the fans back to add to an electrifying and loud finish on Sunday. This was the first year out of my seven Wyndham Championships that the golf course has played how we wanted it to and all of our preparations leading up to the event paid off. In years past, we have gotten multiple days of rain during the week of the tournament. This year we got lucky and only received rain Saturday evening. This allowed for us to control the moisture in all the surfaces and the course played firmer and faster than in years past. We were very happy with how the course stood up to the world’s best golfers and the golfers were very appreciative of the conditions we provided them.
Fall is almost here and it is my favorite time of the year on and off the course. We have football starting back up, family time around the outdoor fire pit, and cooler weather to enjoy being on the golf course. Not only is it more comfortable for us all to enjoy being outside and on the course, but it’s a welcome change for our bentgrass greens. The cooler weather allows us to provide a firmer and faster-putting surface without the worry of stress on our greens.
Currently, the turf throughout the property is doing very well as we head into the fall season. The tournament structures should be mostly gone by mid-September and we will begin repairing any damaged areas with new sod at that time. As we get closer to the end of September we will begin the process of raising our mowing heights and preparing them for the cooler weather ahead. This is a very vital part of our agronomic plan that allows the bermuda plants to be as healthy as possible before they go dormant. It also allows for some added leaf tissue so it can better sustain the cart and foot traffic during the winter while it’s not actively growing and able to recover. Looking forward we will continue to perform our light topdressings on the greens through the month of September and on October 11 we will be using small needle tines on the greens to help ensure that the greens are going into winter as healthy as possible. This process causes very minimal disruption to the surface and the ball roll is typically back to normal a couple of days after the process. As the end of summer is just around the corner, we welcome cooler crisp mornings that make for some great golfing weather! I hope to see you out on the course taking advantage of the weather and good golfing conditions. Chad Cromer Golf Course Superintendent
Team Sedgefield at the 2021 Solheim Cup that was hosted and Brook Valley Country Club. Pictured above: Marianne Hedgpeth, Colleen McKenna, Penny Crisp, Candy DeWitt, Alex Varner, Krista Headley, Jackie King, and Sandra Bryant.
SEDGEFIELD TIMES
I would like to make you aware of a few things that you may notice as we head into fall and start preparing the course for winter. As we get into September, we will start to raise the height of cut on tees, fairways, and green surrounds. This is done to make sure we have enough material on all surfaces to handle all of the winter traffic. Raising the height of cut on all short-cut areas also helps to insulate from cold temperatures in the winter which can help to prevent winter kill. Also, at the beginning of September, we will be putting out a fall fertility application on all short-cut and high traffic areas to ensure that these areas go into dormancy as healthy as possible. As we head into fall and winter it is time for the agronomy team to start to shift our focus back to course improvement projects. In the summertime, we are busy just maintaining the course that there is little time for big projects. One thing that we will be doing this fall is a large drainage project on seven fairway, along with some sod work. Due to the continuous flooding, large amounts of silt have been deposited into the soil, making it very slow to drain and frim backup. Installing sub-surface drainage will allow this area to dry down and firm backup much faster after large rain events. Once we move into winter we will get back on lots of tree removal around the course. I hope that you are able to come out and enjoy lots of great golf this fall and in hopefully some great fall weather. I look forward to seeing you on the course. Ross Jernigan
Photo by Cardinal Member Brooks Barwick
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