Course Update 4/26/21

 Fairway aerification was completed last week and besides a delay due to snow two mornings, the weather was perfect.  We used the same contractor as in previous years and the process went very smoothly since they're familiar with the property.  Because we only closed 9 holes per day the contractor didn't need their entire equipment fleet, but still used three tractors, two large aerifiers, and one recycling machine with a total value of $180,000.  They charge us $290 per acre to core aerify and recycle the plugs which comes out to $11,000 for our 40 acres of fairway.  The aerifiers were setup with 48 hollow tines that removed a 3/4" diameter core 4" deep, which created 24 holes per square foot.  That equates to 41,817,600 holes across all 40 acres of fairways.  That may seem like a lot of holes, but it only affected 5% of the total surface area.  The holes should be healed over in 10-14 days given our current weather conditions.

Aerification is an important and necessary practice in providing great playing conditions.  CLICK HERE to learn more about the process and why we do it.

The contractor uses two large aerifiers that each have a 98" working width for maximum productivity.

Here's a closer look at the fairway surface after the aerifier went thru.

Once the plugs (cores) dry out enough they are broken up with two heavy steel drag mats that go over every fairway several times. The goal is to separate the soil from the organic matter (thatch) so the soil can be worked back into the holes.

Once the fairways are dragged the contractor uses a recycling machine to pulverize the soil and thatch into finer pieces.

Here's the remaining debris after the recycling process.  Thatch is found in every turfgrass area and some thatch is needed to insulate and protect the plant.  Too much thatch is a problem and causes playing surfaces to be soft and spongy.  It also holds onto excess water which leads to more disease.

The final step in the process is for the maintenance staff to blow the thatch and any remaining debris off the fairways and then clean off irrigation heads, yardage markers and drains.  Here the blowers are working together on Lakes #4 fairway.

Here is the end result after aerifying, dragging, pulverizing, and blowing.

Several inches of snow Wednesday morning and again on Thursday morning delayed the process.

Not what we were expecting in late April, but we made the best of it.

Our deep-tine aerifier found this piece of metal about 5" below the surface on Lakes #3 approach. It's been there since the course was built in the late 90's and the aerifier tines grabbed it just right to pull it up.

It wasn't even a small piece of metal. You never know what you'll find in the ground!