Fall Aeration 2014

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

  

Why We Aerate and Topdress?

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:

Number of holes punched: 

Total:                               62,813,520

Greens:                            11,151,360

Tees:                                11,151,360

Fairways:                         39,204,000

DR:                                   1,306,800

Material Removed:

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!

Sand Used for Topdressing:

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

Clean-up Mowing

It's hard to believe August has arrived. As a Superintendent, I always complain about the weather and how it affects what we do on and around the course. This year I have to thank Mother Nature for being very cooperative to this point! The turf has been under a lot less stress than usual this summer. This means turf health has a head start going into Fall because, as I mentioned in an earlier post, the majority of the stress on the turf has abated by Labor Day.  I keep hearing compliments of how consistently good the course has been this year. Not to take anything away from the hard work of the crew but the fact that the 90F days & high humidity stayed away and the rainfall has been just about perfect has meant that the turf can be pushed more than it could in a warmer summer, resulting in fantastic playing surfaces.

I have been asked a few times over the last year why the clean-up along the edge of the greens isn't always cut. There is a very simple answer! This area, along with the collars are high stress areas. The mowing is concentrated in the same pattern all the time so wear marks will start to appear. Also all the traffic on the green crosses that area as the mowers are picked up and roll over it each time the green is mowed.

A 2 day old un-mowed clean-up pass

The collars being mowed higher helps a little with the stress although the higher heights can cause some other issues from heat stress with them from time to time. We use boards on the collars so the mowers don't run over them which greatly reduces stress. 

Lightweight Toro 500 mower on clean-up cut

Since the greens mowers have to cut up to the collar we can't use boards on the edge to reduce stress so other methods have to be used. Skipping the clean-up cut every other day greatly reduces the stress. We also use a different mower that is very light weight and has a fully floating head. The floating head means that the cutting unit is independent of the drive unit so there is no additional weight on the blades and it can float over contours better; both of which greatly reduces stress on the plant. Since adopting this method shortly after the grow-in we have had no issues with wear at the edge of the greens. 

The floating cutting head of a Toro 500 mower. The blade unit hangs from the engine unit which rides on the roller on the very right and the black rollers on the very left.

Fall aeration is scheduled for the week on the 18th and barring a weather delay, everything should be completed during the period the course is closed. We have started prepping for aeration this week by plugging some of the bare spots on greens as the plugs will help the areas heal quicker once they are aerated. 

The plugs on 1 green which are mown higher than the greens turf

The plugs look a little ugly and are a little low but it isn't because we are lazy! The nursery has grown in nicely but the height of cut is not fully down to the greens height. By putting the plugs in a little low it protects them from scalping. Once they are aerated and topdressed they will all be level and will look good once the greens heal. As we get closer to aeration the turf will be fertilized more so that it is primed for growth going in, which reduces the healing time.

Last week we helped the Clubhouse staff prepare for the Soiree in the Sand event. This is how you quickly turn a patio into a beach!

We also built a pallet table from stuff lying around the property.

The finished articles looked great!

Most of the fescue and brush have been cut and over half have been sprayed for weeds, so they will look and play great for the remainder of the season. 

As always, if you have any questions you can e-mail me at alan@ledgerockgolf.com.