Usually when I'm scheduled to perform cultural practices on the greens a couple of members joke with me about it. Generally the banter goes along the lines of "the course/greens are perfect right now so it must be time for you to screw them up!" My answer is always that if I was doing it for my benefit, I wouldn't do it as it's a lot of work; ultimately it is so the greens (and course) can be perfect the remainder of the time. The conversations are in good fun but it always reminds me to make sure other people not in the know are informed as to when and why we aerate.
The course was perfect before we started!
I've covered aeration practices numerous times since I've started the blog so I wanted to do something a little different at the end of this one. But first I wanted to throw out a quick summary of why and when.
Getting started
4 machines (on 9) make quick work of the fairways
To make the turf better! By making holes in the turf, it speeds up and increases air exchange in the soil and for the roots - which helps rooting, which in turn makes the plant healthier as the roots are the main driver of plant health.
It removes thatch - the organic build up of roots and stolons that a turf like creeping bentgrass produces as it grows.
The remnants of a core (ie the thatch) on 8 fway which is what we're after
The Topdressing fills the holes, keeping the pore space open longer which again helps rooting. Topdressing reduces thatch as the sand dilutes the organic material. Reduced thatch means firmer surfaces that putt smooth and true.
Topdressing also smooths the surface, again helping provide faster truer greens.
Starting the greens topdressing
Why is it done in the middle of August?
The weather is usually pretty good in mid- August so it means that the process can be done in a timely manner. The turf is usually growing well so recovery time is minimized over doing it when the turf is slow to heal.
Lastly it helps with poa annua control as the turf is healed before poa germinates so there is less potential for the poa to get established in open aeration holes. Read the USGA article on timing.
For more detailed info on timing, the reasons for and practice of aeration just use the search function to the right and it will bring up the previous discussions.
This was before noon on Monday. The greens were cleaned-up past 7 and 1 fairway was fully done
So, onto this year!
As with the summer as a whole, the weather was perfect! Last week we got ~1.5" of rain which set the course up nicely in preparation for aeration. The weather was dry and not too hot while we performed all the procedures which meant that everything went to plan and it was a very clean process. Over the last few years we have always struggled with rain at some point or had to rush something to get it done before the rain. By having the dry weather, we were able to leave the greens open for a day before topdressing so they could be watered. This meant that the holes were fully open and the turf had a little time to recover before the topdressing and abrasive brushing. The greens looked fantastic even though the usual amount of sand was applied!
Blowing 9 fway
Sweeping 9 fway
1 tee cleaned and the verticutting on the fairway is finished
For time purposes the fairway aeration is contracted out and this year the fairways were aerated at a closer spacing due to having to skip them in the spring. This slows the process down but Aercore - the contractor - impressively got it all done in one day. This meant that we were able to verticut the fairways sooner than normal. The verticutting removes more thatch, removes grain and stands the turf up. A side benefit is it also fluffs up any aeration cores that get compacted so once the fairways are blown and swept they are perfectly clean. The fairways were then mown with groomers which made the most of the turf standing up to remove the grain. Although the verticutting pulls out dead material and causes a little scalping which in turn causes brown spots, the fairways looked fantastic and once they are mowed again next week - they will be perfect.
The tee aeration and topdressing went very smooth and the approaches got a much needed heavy topdressing also.
Grooming 1 fairway (you can clearly see the line where the groomers have cut the standing up turf)
Verticutting 7 fway - the diagonal cut helps remove the grain
Topdressing Tees
So at writing we are 5 days in and the course looks great. The greens were mowed today and we will work on getting them back up to speed. At the rate things are going I think they will be in good shape by next weekend and should be near perfect the following week.
It's hard to believe the following two pictures were taken on Thursday afternoon, less than four days from starting
Mowing Greens on Sunday Morning
Due to the perfect weather and the rain, they were a little hairy!
So for the fun bit!
In the previous posts I have shown plenty of pictures of the procedures and what goes on while the course is closed but it doesn't provide a good picture of how much work it actually is.
The following are the 4 days of aeration in numbers:
Total: 62,813,520
Greens: 11,151,360
Tees: 11,151,360
Fairways: 39,204,000
DR: 1,306,800
Total: 1,666 cubic yards
Greens: 194 cubic yards
Tees: 322 cubic yards
Fairways: 1,113 cubic yards
DR: 37 cubic yards
All the material on greens and tees was removed by hand!
Total: 154 tons
Greens: 66 tons
Tees and Approaches: 88 tons
Man-hours:
Total (for the 4 days) 1,251 hrs
The long range forecast is for a beautiful fall, so once the course heals in a week or so it will make for a perfect end to the season.
As always, please let me know if you have any questions: alan@ledgerockgolf.com
