Treesdale Golf and Country Club Golf Course Maintenance: Fairway Aerification Update

We finally got some warm, dry weather and it just happened to coincide with fairway aerification. To maximize efficiency and minimize the disruption to the membership, a contractor was used to core aerify all 40 acres of fairway over three days this week at a cost of $11,000. For the maintenance staff to perform the same task in-house would require $150,000 in additional equipment and we would not have the staff available to properly maintain the 18 holes that were open for play. Maintenance costs, storage space, and insuring the specialized aerification equipment must also be considered and that's why we choose to contract the service.

The first step in the process is to flag (mark) all of the drainage basins, irrigation heads, yardage markers, and anything else we don't want the aerifiers to hit. The aerifiers can then start extracting a 3/4" diameter core approximately 4" deep on a 3"x 3" square spacing. This spacing equates to 19 holes per square foot, 827,640 holes per acre, and 33,105,600 holes across all 40 acres. The cores are then left on the surface to dry for an hour or so before they can be dragged and broken up. If the cores are too wet they will stick together and form little mud balls that clog the drag mats and take even longer to dry. If we wait too long and the cores are too dry they will become very hard and not break up when dragged. Once the drag mats have gone over the fairway several times and the cores are broken up, another piece of equipment is used to further pulverize the soil and any remaining cores. The goal is to break up the soil so it fills some of the aerification holes and work it back into the turf canopy. This helps to control thatch buildup and reduces the amount of material that needs to be collected and hauled off. Since the soil is heavier it will settle into the turf while the light-weight thatch will remain on the surface. As soon as the pulverizer is done, a team of three high-powered blowers start clearing the fairway surface. The thatch is blown into the rough where it is collected by a large sweeper. The sweeper will make several passes around the fairways to collect all the debris, then run over specific areas in the fairway where the soil/thatch has accumulated. The forecast calls for some rain over the next several days along with temperatures in the 70's. These conditions are ideal for turf growth and I anticipate 7-10 days for the fairways to recover.

Click the links below to learn more about aerification and why it's necessary.
https://www.golfdigest.com/story/why-your-course-aerates-and-why-you-should-be-happy-about-it
https://www.usga.org/course-care/forethegolfer/why-do-golf-courses-aerate-so-much-.html