Aerification Update

Regular core aerification is essential in maintaining healthy turf that can withstand the wear and tear of a long golf season and the extreme weather events that go with it.  For our location, that means pulling a core twice per year, typically early spring and sometime in the fall.  This year, we experimented with a newer process called DryJect that uses high pressure water to inject sand directly into the rootzone.   The process was very successful in that it created firmer greens and the healing time was only a few days compared to a couple weeks.  It worked so well the management team decided to have the service done again this fall, but we needed to combine it with core aerification that removes some of the old sand and thatch.  We originally planned to have the contractor here last Tuesday/Wednesday after Labor Day, but the weather did not cooperate and the service was postponed.  Since the weather wasn't conducive to DryJecting, we went ahead and core aerified the greens using 1/4" mini tines and then lightly topdressed.  The plan was always to core aerify immediately after DryJecting, but we didn't want to wait given the uncertainty of the weather this time of year.  Orchard and Grove greens were completed last Thursday and as of this morning the holes were barely visible.  The advantage of using a smaller tine is the healing time is greatly reduced, but we're still removing a good amount of old sand mix and thatch by creating 72 holes per square foot with our current machine setup.  Lakes greens are being aerified and topdressed today, and will heal quickly with a little rain and warm temps.  We still plan to DryJect the greens this fall and we're working with the contractor to identify some dates that are less disruptive to the membership.  More info to come...

As for fairways and tees, they too require core aerification twice per year and we're starting on that cycle this fall.  Orchard fairways have been completed, and a contractor is aerifying Lakes today and Grove fairways tomorrow.  Fairway aerification is a much bigger task since we have 40 acres between the three courses.  Tees encompass 6 acres and the maintenance staff will aerify those during periods of slow play.

Remember to check with the Golf Shop regarding course status and any maintenance activities scheduled for that day.


Click on the link below for more information about aerification and why it is necessary.

http://www.usga.org/videos/2013/03/27/usga-course-care-video--why-aerate--2257797353001.html