Course Update 10/25/18

Lakes and Orchard greens were mowed for the first time this week since being aerified approximately two weeks ago.  The healing process is progressing as expected for this time of year and most of the holes are almost grown over.  The recent frosts and cool temperatures have slowed down turf growth so there may be some aerification holes that remain open into winter.  That's not a bad thing since it allows water to drain faster off the surface and more oxygen is able to find its way to the roots.  As we normally do this time of year, we've raised the cutting height on greens to help the turf prepare for winter dormancy.  Most golfers won't notice the change given all the sand that's still on the surface, but the increase in length provides more leaf tissue that allows the plant to increase its carbohydrate production.  Carbohydrates are the main source of food for plant cells and will be stored to help the plant survive the winter.

Tee aerification began last week, and Orchard and Grove are finished.  We plan to start aerifying Lakes tees tomorrow and will most likely need another day to finish.  We've also been topdressing the tees with sand this fall, which hasn't been done for a while.  The combination of core aerifying and topdressing is the best practice to having firm tees.  The tees currently have too much thatch (organic matter), which is why the tees are soft and spongy.  Going forward, our plan is to core aerify and topdress the tees in the spring and fall to reduce the amount of thatch.  Several tees on Orchard and Grove still need to be topdressed, and were initially skipped because the tees were too wet and soft to drive the topdresser on.

Fairway aerification has been rescheduled to November 14-16.  Those were the first dates the contractor had available and hopefully the weather cooperates.  We had originally planned to core aerify the fairways again as was done in the spring, but the days are too short for adequate drying time and the soil is usually too wet that late in the year.  Instead, the contractor will be deep-tining to a depth of 8-10 inches using a 3/4 inch diameter solid tine.  The deep-tine is a good alternative to core aerifying in that it also relieves compaction, and opens the soil to exchange harmful carbon dioxide for beneficial oxygen.  Another benefit to aerifying that late in the year is the holes will remain open through most of the winter and will allow water to drain from the surface.  That water will most likely go through several freeze/thaw cycles and the expanding ice will fracture the soil creating more channels for root growth and water drainage.

The same machine is used to aerify both tees and greens, but we use a larger tine on tees on a 2x2 inch spacing.

Scooping plugs is a great way to stay warm on a cool fall day.

This year we experimented with topdressing before or after aerifying to see which gave the best results.  Topdressing before is the preferred method because it makes cleanup easier and works more sand down into the turf.

This tee was topdressed prior to being aerified.  Very little sand was removed from the surface and the remaining sand will be washed into the holes during the next rain storm.