Greens aerification

This weeks players may have noticed we poked pencil thin holes in the greens to allow air and water to penetrate the soil profile and loosen the soil underground. Although this process does lead to a couple days of less than perfect putting the holes are almost invisible 5 days later.

I realize the greens had been near perfect the past three weeks but with the long spring and upcoming hot humid weather it was a perfect time to give the greens a break. Also the greens are good for three weeks at a time because of the verticutting, aerification, spiking and topdressing we do to them every 3 to 4 weeks.

It would be great to have perfect conditions all the time but greens are a living thing and need to be fed, groomed and protected just like your body does. Fast and firm and tightly mowed is great for periods of time but maintenance has to be done also.

At the same time we applied a light layer of sand topdressing and a granular fertilizer because we knew we would not mow greens for a couple days after the sand was applied. The challenge for us is working the sand into the tight turf so we do not pick it up with our mowers reducing the effectiveness and damaging the mowers.

As I discussed last time the sand has many purposes.

1. It smooths the surface by filling in little holes and marks to allow for smoother puts.
2. It reduces the thatch layer that can make the greens soft and bumpy by diluting the dead roots and shoots and rhizomes the bentgrass greens produce.
3. Protects the crown or growing point of the bentgrass plant by slightly buring it.

The greens were mowed, aerified, mowed, rolled, mowed again, rolled again, topdressed, fertilized and watered. The next two days they were only rolled and on the fourth day they were mowed. That fourth day we get some sand but by the 5th day we only get a little sand and the greens are nearly back up to speed.

The challenge of the process is the wet sand and fertilizer sticks to the ball when players putt in the morning dew. Also the sand tracks on shoes and drops off in uneven piles to cause small bumps until we roll or mow again.

Believe me when I say we only do the maintenance that is for the best of the golf course and if we could skip the work we sure would. Thanks again for your patience as we maintain the playing surfaces you love and for the next three weeks, putting should be near perfect!