So why do we aerate and why now?

As promised in the last post, I will discuss the necessity and timing of aeration.  Let's first begin with a course update. 

Overall the course is back in top condition. Over the last week the crew worked tirelessly to get caught up on the backlog from aeration and the wet week that followed. 

The greens that had issues are recovering, albeit slowly. I am very impatient; I have to keep telling myself it has been less than a week since we discovered what was going on. I expect to see the rate of recovery to pick up over the next few days. I held off fertilizing them right away and made sure the plants were strong enough to take on the pressure of being fertilized and the associated extra growth; otherwise they could overfeed on nitrogen and die off. 

They were fed with biostimulants, calcium and other micro-nutrients first to prepare them for the larger fertilizer applications on Thursday and Friday. It takes a day or two for the plant to take the fertilizer up and for it to have an effect. The pick up in growth this morning shows that they are reacting to it and starting to actively grow. The new growth is pushing through moving the brown tips upward. The amount of green tissue starting to push through can be seen in the picture below and if you move the sand around, more plants can be seen ready to break through. 

Each days mowing will take off the brown tips, so it eventually fades out as the green leaves grow. The two pictures below are from 1 green; the top one is Monday around 11am and the lower one from the same angle at 11am today. The recovery, while it still has quite a bit to go, is notable even after 4 days. 

The greens were also seeded this week. We used Job Saver tines on our aerators (pictures below). These little tines are designed for overseeding into an existing canopy. They make shallow holes for the seed. The greens were then rolled essentially planting the seed to protect it and keep it warm and moist so it germinates. Bentgrass seed germinates relatively quickly so I expect to see some more green fuzz popping up by the middle of next week to help speed up the recovery. 

We will continue to fertilize and push the growth, along with lowering the height of cut. We have been lowering the height daily for the last few days with no negative effects. Once the lowered height reaches the sand we will slow the rate at which we lower the mowers. The greens need another very light topdressing to get them perfectly smooth. While they are fine right now, once the mowers get back to cutting at 0.1", it is essential they are perfectly smooth or the greens will be damaged from scalping. The picture below shows one of these imperfections; it is the darker green spot in the lower middle. If it is left un-topdressed the mowers will scalp it leaving a bare spot. 

When we topdress, depends on the health of the plant as we do not want to do any more damage. The topdressing from aeration has been worked in on most of the greens so adding a little more will not cause an issue.  It is essential however that the plants are healthy enough to withstand the stress from the broom. With it being a light topdressing it is easily worked in so, again, it is not as much of an issue as it was during aeration when the holes had to be filled. We plan to work it into the schedule as soon as the turf is healthy enough for us to do so.

So, the answers to the title questions:

The main benefit of an aeration is to provide air and water channels for the roots. The roots are a vital component for the plant as they are the location where the plant takes up nutrients and water. The longer and healthier the roots are, the healthier the plant and the greater it's ability to withstand stress. There are numerous ways to aerate; from solid tining (sticking a fork in it!); to hollow tining (removing soil); water injection (creates tiny channels); deep and shallow tines (varies on how deep you need to go); drilling; slicing and some more I'm forgetting. There are various methods to accomplish these procedures also, each having varying degrees of surface disruption and area disturbed beneath the surface. For example, a spiker (below) leaves a small triangular hole that provides a lot of area for air exchange but it is not a deep machine; it can tuft the surface so it would not be as acceptable as a small needletine, which has less surface area but penetrates deeper and leaves the surface intact.

Most of the deeptine machines also kick as they move through the soil. This action helps fracture the soil and loosen it, reducing compaction and creating more air/water pockets for the roots. The Wiedenmann (below) we used on greens was adjusted to minimize the kick as it was in sand;  the main goal with it was to leave deeper channels through the mat layer.

These methods of aeration also help with soil issues. If a soil does not drain well (like a native soil green), the holes can be filled with a better draining material, improving the composition of the entire profile. 

The hollow tines remove material from the soil. If the goal is to modify the soil, removing a core is better than pushing a hole into the soil, which can cause compaction at a deeper level. Hollow tines also help remove thatch, which is the organic material plants create. Creeping bentgrass is a big thatch producer as it has stolons (runners) that are above the soil. As the plants grow this runner level gets thicker and becomes spongy. On a green it creates a lot of issues from both a golfer and maintenance prospective; the greens are soft, hold water, difficult to cut (as the mower can dig in and scalp),  can dry out quicker as thatch can become hydrophobic, and numerous other issues. Removing it is essential to have quality greens, especially if they are bentgrass. Physically removing the thatch greatly helps in keeping it in check. In most cases it is recommended to remove 20-25% per year, just to keep up with the production. That is over 11 triaxle loads of material per year on the greens at LedgeRock alone! Skipping an aeration can be very difficult to recover from when you consider the volumes that are involved.

Topdressing helps reduce thatch also by simply burying it, which dilutes the amount of the organic material in a given volume. As I mentioned in an earlier post, topdressing also keeps the putting surface true and smooth which helps increase green-speed. Topdressing also can be beneficial when drainage is an issue. As the sand layer builds up it creates a free draining layer for water to move through to drainage channels, which are essential so the water has somewhere to go.

Diluted thatch (mat) and topdressing layer on a green

And finally; why do we do it when we do?

There are a number of factors that influence the timing of aeration. Non-evasive aeration, like needletining, can be carried out pretty much anytime as it does not affect the playabilty of the course; however hollow tine aeration needs to be carefully planned. 

Recovery time drives the timing. The turf should be aerated at a time that minimizes the down time for the course. On average a course can be fully back in play within three weeks from the start of aeration. This period depends on how aggressive the aeration was and how long it took to complete. Sometimes the process itself can take 4-5 days but full recovery should be within 2 weeks from completion provided the weather is conducive to growth. 

Here at LedgeRock we used to aerate as soon as we could in the spring; We usually had all the greens completed by the end of March, which was ideal as it was out of the way and all resources could be directed to prepping the course for the season. The downside was that it took until late April to early May to heal. This is due to the fact the soil temperatures are not consistently warm enough for turf growth until that time. As discussed back in the spring, the slow warm up delayed recovery even further. The decision was made about 4-5 years ago to move our spring aeration to mid- April, when the soils usually start to warm up, so that the course would be playable longer if March and early April were nice. By doing this, recovery time is usually in the 3 week range as opposed to 6-8 as it was when we first started. 

For a similar reason, it was moved to an earlier date in the fall. It was scheduled right after Labor day, however, the temperatures started dropping and recovery slowed. In 2007 there were traces of aeration holes all winter, right up until the spring aeration; almost 7 months! Admittedly they are not all great months for golfing but had they been aerated earlier, they would have been fully healed by mid - September, leaving 6 months of quality surfaces.

The USGA also brought to my attention that moving these dates would greatly reduce Poa annua encroachment. Poa annua is a winter annual which likes cooler weather to bentgrass. By aerating earlier, the bentgrass is more competitive and can close up all the holes, not leaving any bare areas where Poa can get established. This is why you may see courses that are predominantly Poa, aerating when the temperatures are cooler. Since Poa is not as strong of a plant as bentgrass, the cooler temperatures also help it recover from the stress that the aeration procedures put the turf under; Poa would be more likely to die during the summer heat.

Of course you can run into issues if the weather changes a little, as happened to us this year; but the average pattern has to be used, otherwise there never would be a right time. 

This USGA article is a nice resource on the timing of aeration.

Have a great week and enjoy the beautiful weather!

Labor Day has come and gone and with it brought in the beginning of meteorological autumn. The end of summer brings cooler nights and perfect golfing weather, which incidentally is perfect turf growing weather. 

WARNING! The following post is rather long as I discuss the last two weeks.  To those of you that may not need to something to sleep to, I will sum it up in one paragraph:

Overall the course has recovered well from aeration and we are getting back on our regular maintenance schedule. Some of the greens had some issues with turf thinning, primarily in the areas with excess topdressing; which heated up burning the new leaves as they grew through the sand. The majority of the crowns were not damaged and are pushing through new growth so recovery should be pretty quick. I am confident that bar a few scars here and there they will be in great shape for the Rock - provided of course the weather cooperates.

For those of you that need some good material to put you to sleep and/or want to find out in detail what happened, read on!

5 green this morning; the burned turf is already recovering

I had been delaying the latest update until the course was fully healed from aeration to let everyone know how well it healed. The tees and fairways have healed up nicely. The verticutting on the fairways, and subsequent grooming, has them looking and playing beautifully. The topdressing on the tees has helped reduce the thatch on them but they will need more coring and topdressing to remove more. This will ensure the thatch does not build up to the point where it becomes an issue. Luckily this can be done during play without too much disruption and can be done anytime. We will schedule it at the end of season. 

 Looking back on 13 on 8-30; the greens were healing nicely and the tees and fairways were nearly 100%

The last thing left to do is to topdress approaches to keep them firm. A few are still a little wet and weak from the work so we are holding off until they are healthy enough to withstand the brooming. It will not affect play much and will be done in a few hours.

So to the big question: how are the greens? The simple answer is fine, but we have had some issues. As covered in the last few posts we had some issues completing aeration. On the Wednesday we were supposed to open back up, there was still some topdressing to be completed, which should have been easily completed in front of play. As with the earlier part of the week, we ran into problems with equipment which delayed us getting them done. The vertidrain started ripping up turf in areas, which needed to be repaired and the machine adjusted to stop it. This delayed the topdressing. As the morning progressed the temperatures rose and I had to stop topdressing to prevent damage to the turf. The damage occurs because the drag brush causes abrasion to the plants as it moves the sand; these abrasions weaken the plant and the heat exasperates it. So while the delay was not ideal, the turf appreciated it and there was no damage, but if you were one of the few that tried to play that day, please accept my apologies.

Some plugs on 1 green to repair the damage from the deep tine machine

A picture of the deep tine hole; showing the difference between it and the depth of the regular aeration channels which can be seen in the top few inches

A cross section of a regular aeration hole

After that hiccup the remainder of the topdressing went extremely well and the greens started to heal nicely. I waited until the following Tuesday afternoon to mow. With the course closed, it meant that there was plenty of time to make sure the first cut went well; the dry turf provided good conditions to mow and not pick up sand. I discussed in this earlier post the benefits of mowing when the turf is dry.

The greens looked good after the first few cuts, but the cut was a little scraggly. I then switched to the grooved rollers to get a better cut. However due to the length of the grass and the height the mower was set to, the grass was still not being cut as well as it should. It is difficult to explain the detailed reasons but a reel mower can only cut a certain amount of grass at a time based on it's speed, height of cut and number of blades. The height of cut was throwing that ratio out so I raised the mower a little closer to the height of the grass. It worked out perfectly, and the cut was beautiful. Everything looked on track for a speedy recovery. 

The cut on the right is after raising the height of cut by 0.025" - the mower was able to cut more efficently

The next day I noticed some browning on the greens. My initial reaction was the mower had scalped but it hadn't. In most of the spots, the sand was still visible and the color of the sand was causing the browning. Looking closer, the tips of the leaves were browning a little. It was nothing I hadn't seen before and I put it down to tip burn, probably from the fungicide/insecticide/fertilizer application earlier in the day. There were a number of new plants growing through the sand so the damage was just on the leaves. I was not concerned as the crowns were still pushing new growth, meaning the plants were still alive. Once they pushed through the sand, everything would look fine.

On Saturday everything was still fine; the plants were pushing through and the tips were a little browned. Turfgrass is like a finger nail. Basically the crown is like the cuticle and the point that the growth originates with the tip is the oldest part. This is the main difference between a grass plant and a tree as the new growth on a tree is at the tip.

8 tee shortly after it was aerated

When I came in on Labor Day, I was expecting to see these areas greened up, unfortunately the opposite was the case. The areas had completely browned out and the tips had burned back to the soil. There was no discernible pattern that would give an indication of a cause, nothing we had sprayed should have caused it; the weather - while not perfect - was not horrific. For one of the first times in my career I was stumped. The worst thing one can do at this point is do something in a panic as it could make things worst. It took me a while to clear my head of the shock and to start to dissect the problem to find the cause and the solution.

The biggest problem was that I was comfortable with my decision that it was fine on Friday and Saturday and now the turf was fading away while nothing had changed. Was the damage done or was there more to come? John, my assistant felt it was mechanical damage and I agreed that there was some as you could see lesions in the plant where it had been torn by the topdressing. I was not 100% convinced that that was the only factor. If it was all mechanical damage it would have been more widespread and be seen on more greens. 

Pouring over all our records for the prior two weeks didn't reveal a clearer picture. I went back out to pull some more plugs and see what was going on at the sites. The plugs revealed, that just like earlier in the weekend, the crowns were still green and alive and pushing new growth. But why were the leaves dying? The damage looked like scorched turf but we had been drying the turf out since the previous weeks rain, so it wasn't from too much moisture. The soils still had plenty of moisture and wilt and wet- wilt were both ruled out. 

Then I remembered back to a topdressing a few years ago where the kiln dried topdressing had not cooled down upon application and it burned the turf. The sand had been cooled when we applied it this time but could something else have caused it to heat up. As I started to work through the situation, I found the answer. 

Thinking back over the weather the previous few days, it had progressively been getting hotter with the humidity increasing. The turf on the greens had started to rot as it was too wet after the precipitation and due to the fact they were holding moisture, we had stopped watering them. While we were monitoring for wilt, we did not realize the areas where the topdressing was heavier and therefore exposed were heating up and did not have timely irrigation to cool them off. As a result, when the new leaves pushed though to the surface they were getting baked by the heated sand, killing them back. This is not something that one expects; while we were concentrating on reducing moisture levels to ensure the plants survived, they were actually cooking in the sand. Once I had my revelation, a clearer picture appeared. I now realized that the damage was on greens,or areas of greens, that for one reason or another had more sand on them and therefore slower to grow through. I also found the answer as to why the aeration holes were green in the browned out areas. In these areas, the turf was gone; the new turf had grown into them. The new growth was not buried and therefore not heating up.

Turf canopy temperature on an exposed topdressed area (after syringing)

Turf canopy temperature on a turf area (after syringing) beside the picture above

Once I realized what was happening, I immediately watered the greens and set up a program to water them overnight. The difference on Tuesday morning was startling. They looked quantifiably better.

On Tuesday I had a soil consultant out to rule out an issue in the soil, which we were able to do. He came up with the same answer that I did; i.e. the turf was being burned by the exposed topdressing. We also had a USGA Green Section agronomist out to offer his opinion and validate our course of action.

The upper picture is the top of the turf, when the sand is blown back (even just a little like here), the healthier crowns can be seen

The good news is now that we know fully what the issue is we can manage the recovery effectively. The better news is that there is a lot of healthy crowns beneath the sand that are pushing new growth. The healthy turf in the aeration holes is an advantage also. This means that they will look a lot better as soon as the new leaves pop through to the surface. There will be a few small areas that may need plugs or sod but overall they will recover pretty quickly. 

So what does this mean for aerations going forward? The deep tine aeration is essential to the future health of the greens. It might look like the extra topdressing that was needed to fill the deep tine holes added to the problems, but the timing of the topdressings is essential in the future. The equipment failures that caused the delays this year had a domino effect on the timing of when the greens were topdressed. The length it took to topdress was a lot longer than normal and the turf was growing all the way through. The turf was at different lengths when we topdressed affecting how the sand was worked in. Going forward, provided everything goes to plan, it will reduce these risks and we now learned to make sure we watch the heat of the sand on top of everything else.

Cross section showing the topdressing on the green and an aeration channel

Not to leave the remaining greens out, they have recovered beautifully, showing that we were on track to have everything recovered by the (now rescheduled) Club Championship. They would have been a little slow but fully healed over, which makes the thin greens even more frustrating.


 A member asked me why the fans were off and if had an effect on the greens that thinned out. The answer is a little contradictory but hopefully it makes sense. Due to the fact the greens had holes in them and were covered in sand our maintenance program had turned to a recovery program. As such the holes were providing big air channels for the roots so it was not as much of a concern. As the humidity rose and we looked to dry them out, normally we would start them up; however, the roots were severely compromised by aeration (this is temporary, caused by the stress, heat, additional fertilizer and in particular the excess water needed for a quick recovery. Once regular maintenance starts back, the aeration channels help increase root mass.) Due to the compromised roots we didn't want them drying out too quickly (as would occur with the fans) so it was easier manage them with the fans off. As you can see this job is a fine balance between contradicting items!

The last item that came up is one that always comes up at aeration time. I have discussed it in previous posts but will dedicate the next post exclusively to it. 

If you have any questions on the greens or the course, please do not hesitate to contact me as I am always glad to answer your questions. I can be reached via e-mail at alan@ledgerockgolf.com

Day Three

Finally! A day where everything went as planned! The sunny dry weather made for perfect conditions to complete all the clean-up. The greens topdressing went very well also, with all the greens being completed by early afternoon. 

Rolling the greens after topdressing

A change for this years aeration is to add a deep aeration on greens. Considering they are nearly ten years old, they are performing very well. Our last physical soil tests reported that they are maturing better than expected and that organic matter (OM) in being kept in check. The top few inches is where the bulk of the roots reside and where the mat (thatch and topdressing mix) is. This layer is the slowest draining in any green due to the higher OM content blocking pore spaces. Regular hollow core aeration machines are capable of aerating to approx three inches. In order to break through this layer and go deeper a vertidrain type machine is needed. This helps break through the top layer and provides air and water channels to encourage deeper rooting. 

The Wiedenmann on greens aerating to eight inches

Up until now the regular depths have been sufficient but deep aerating now, will preempt future issues by keep the mat layer in flux. It is essential to ensure the channels are filled with sand; if not, the roots will fill the channel, potentially creating a big OM problem through the entire profile. The best way to ensure the channels are filled is to use dry sand and big holes, so it can flow down them. Based on a trial run this spring I found that aerating and topdressing the greens as normal and then following that with the deep tine worked best. We started late this afternoon to make sure all our settings were correct. The three greens that were done looked great and the remainder will be finished tomorrow.

The fairways needed to be verticut which we started today also. Verticutting stands the plants up and removes excess organic material (thatch). It also is a nice way to finish cleaning up after aerating as it helps loosen up any compacted cores or clumps of soil. Once the fairways are verticut, we blow and collect the debris. The fairways are then mowed with the groomers turned on. The groomers are basically small verticutters that sit in front of the reel and stand the grass up for a better cut. The turf on the finished fairways looks great as it is now standing as opposed to laying over; removing the grain that has occurred from mowing the same direction. The fairways are striped as this is done. The direction changes by striping enhances the benefits of removing the grain. We will return to the half-and-half cut in a week or so as it is substantially faster which saves time and money.

Checking and setting the depth of the verticutter on fairways

7 fairway verticut and ready for sweeping

So after a rocky start, we are finishing strong. The plan is to have 1-8 and 14 open by noon tomorrow. The other holes will open as we finish them. The final clean-up of piles etc around the course shouldn't take too long tomorrow. All that will remain is to topdress tees. Due to the weather delays we will aerate the Driving Range next Tuesday when we are closed. 

Almost back to normal

Aeration Day 2

Although frustrating at times, today went better than yesterday. The crew put a great effort in to have the greens all aerated and cleaned by 10:30. The aerators were then switched over to larger tines and sent out on tees. By the end of the day they had 7 sets of tees completed, which is right on schedule.

Clean-up on 1 tee

The greens topdressing and fairway aeration however did not go as well as expected. The contractor got started early, but an afternoon shower was just enough to dampen everything; the cores on the fairways from yesterday could not be dragged or swept. We switched our plans again and finished up just aerating the remaining holes; so all is left for tomorrow is to drag and sweep those remaining six fairways. Thankfully the forecast is for no precipitation for the next two days so we should get everything back on track tomorrow. 

I had planned to have most, if not all the greens topdressed today but our loader broke down on Sunday afternoon. Unfortunately it is not a quick fix so a rental had to be ordered and it was mid afternoon before it arrived. At least it arrived just as the rain passed and the sun popped out, so we were able to get 6 greens topdressed (including the pocketed 'problem' greens) before the heat arrives tomorrow. This will greatly reduce the stress on the plants on the pocketed greens ensuring there will be no turf loss. It wasn't the result I wanted but at least we were able to salvage something good from it. Again with the dry weather forecast the remaining greens should be finished up tomorrow. 

Topdressing Greens

Loading the topdresser

Brushing the sand in on the greens

The last two days have been a test of patience showing how easily the weather effects golf course maintenance. Although extremely frustrating at the time, the quick decision making and adapting to the change in plans is fun and keeps the job interesting! Although I am looking forward to a perfect day tomorrow. 

Goodnight from an nearly aerated LedgeRock

August aeration week 2013

It is hard to believe the August aeration week has arrived. The course closed today at noon and will be open again on Wednesday at noon. Over the last week the course was prepped to minimize the healing time from the aeration process. The greens were sprayed twice with a blend of fertilizers to start the turf growing rapidly. It takes a few days for the plant to take in the fertilizer through it's roots; so spraying the greens a few days before, has them rapidly growing by the time we start to aerate. The fairways and tees were fertilized with an organic granular fertilizer for the same reason. 

The greens fertilizer is sprayed and it is rapidly used by the plant. The granular fertilizer on fairways is taken up slowly and is available for the plant for a longer period. This means that on greens there is no residual fertilizer lingering once they heal and they can be brought quickly back up to speed. This is not an issue on the fairways so the less time consuming method of the granular application works great.

By using this method the greens are essentially starting to heal when we start the process, which greatly minimizes the time it takes for them to recover. The weather this time of the year is usually very good for turf growth, also helping to speed up the recovery. The weather this spring stayed cool for a prolonged period so the greens took a lot longer to heal than normal. With the current weather and our fertility program I expect the greens to be in great shape within two weeks; if not fully back up to speed by then also. 

Getting started on the small practice green

 Aerating bentgrass at this time of the year is ideal for a number of reasons. As mentioned, the weather is usually perfect for bentgrass growth so healing time is minimized. The college and high school students are still working so there is plenty of staff to get it done quickly. The temperatures are usually unfavorable for poa annua germination; this means the greens have time to recover before the weather favors poa germination, decreasing the potential for invasion.

Aerating 3 green. The fairway has just been completed. The darkness of the photo shows how miserable a day it was. 

The hollow core aeration is a big inconvenience for golfers while the course heals but the benefits outweigh the pain. It ensures that organic build up is minimized and the greens perform as they were designed. This also ensures they consistently putt quickly, true and smooth all year and are better able to handle times of excess stress. 

Today got off to a bad start due to the rain. It shouldn't be a shock at this point, as it seems like every year it rains on the Sunday afternoon of the August aeration; even if the forecast is clear, as it was this year..... Light rain is very frustrating as it can make clean-up messy. Luckily today's rain was light enough as to not effect the greens aeration, however it was a different story for fairways. 

We waited until the radar looked clear to begin and initially it went very well. The cores pulled cleanly. The cores get broken up with a mat and this went very well also on 1 fairway. The leaves were stained brown (from the wet cores) which is not an issue as it is mown off after a few cuts. The soil becomes an issue when it gets wet and clumps up. The sweepers collected the debris well on 1 fairway but a shower made the cores on 3 fairway too wet and the soil started clumping behind the sweepers; causing an early end to fairway aeration for the day. 

Dragging the cores on 1 fairway

The clumps left by the sweepers on 3 fairway after the shower

Thankfully the greens aeration went a lot smoother although the precipitation meant that we could not perform the final clean-up with a blower. As always the crew worked really hard and had 13 greens aerated and cleaned up by 6:30pm.

The core-hogs and the crew in action cleaning up

Of course the sun popped out as we were finishing up; hopefully that means it will be shining early on us tomorrow and everything will go smoothly. Provided the weather cooperates, the greens will be finished tomorrow and the tees will be started to be aerated.. The contractor should have all the fairways completed also. Most, if not all, the greens will be topdressed tomorrow also. 

15 fairway's irrigation heads, flagged and painted for aeration

Our progress will be updated tomorrow. 

What a difference a few days make

It has been quiet around the course for most of the period since my last post, but what a difference a few days make. Once the hot and humid weather broke, the course was not under any weather- related stress. There were no maintenance issues either so it was a relatively easy ten days. Then, the rain and humidity returned, but fortunately the heat stayed away.

I tried to extend the prior fungicide application for a few extra days when the cooler, less humid weather arrived. Usually this is possible as the disease pressure is reduced and stretching the application window saves money by saving an application. Unfortunately the Dollar Spot biomass had reached a point during the humidity that it still popped up when the humidity dropped. The tees and fairways were sprayed at the first signs of the disease but not before the tan blemishes appeared everywhere. Dollar Spot is a frustrating disease as it is relatively easy to control but it can get make an area of turf look ugly very quickly. It will grow out shortly, especially after we aerate next week.

The greens had been looking great for the last few weeks and the algae was barely visible. Adding the second fan to the 4th green really helped during the high humidity and it has been nearly perfect all summer. This is a far cry from a couple of years ago when 4 was the worst green, before the fans were added. The rain over the last 4-5 days made the algae return in force! The greens were sprayed for it on Saturday and it made an immediate difference. Once it is kept in check it is an aesthetic problem (the black patches) and it does not effect ball roll. The picture below is 4 green on Friday evening and the algae is very prominent.

Below is the same spot on Sunday, having been sprayed on Saturday morning. The difference is obvious. The topdressing next week will really help keep it under control. The extra fertilizer needed to heal the greens from aeration will grow the greens out, which will help camouflage the black areas enhancing their appearance.

As mentioned in a previous post, a few collars are thin, mainly in high traffic areas. The collar on 2 is the worst mainly due to the traffic being concentrated on the small walk-on. We plugged the worst of the areas. The plugs will fill in the bare areas quickly after aeration and  are a better solution than sodding a traffic area. Traffic would have to keep off the sod to ensure it knits properly so the tight area would make getting people on and off the green difficult. 

 

We have been making sure the greens stay healthy which means when the rain arrives, rolling is skipped the following day (or days depending on the quantity). Depending on the length of time rolling is skipped, a drop of  up to a foot in green-speed can be seen. However it is a small price to pay as the health of the greens is priority at this time of the year. The remainder of the course is also in great shape. The bunkers have washed out a number of times over the last week but the crew have worked hard and put them back together quickly each time. The wilt spots here and there in the roughs have mostly recovered and the course looks great. 

The rain has bought up the issue with carts not following signs again. The cart rules are to protect the course from potential damage and to ensure everyone stays safe; the terrain at LedgeRock is not cart friendly and the potential for an accident increases when it is wet. We try and let carts out as soon as possible but only do so once the potential for damage is minimized. The cart rules apply to all carts. On Friday, this damage occurred on 10.  It was from someone diving to the pond to fish. After the tracks were mown, the tracks were brown as the areas were scalped. 

 

Another spot was on 8 where someone had ignored the traffic sign and drove over a stake. The beginning of 8 fairway is a wet area so after a rain we prevent traffic going there. The second picture is the damage the cart did as it drove through one of the wet spots. While it does not look severe, the heaved ground dries out and gets scalped when we mow resulting in a bare spot and dulling the mower reel. 

The next post will discuss the process of aeration and the impact on course conditions and play.