I will never forget my first year as superintendent. Feeling good about successfully getting through spring aerification, I went into the golf shop the very next day after we reopened the golf course. A member standing in the golf shop ready to go out and play was expressing his frustration at length to his playing partner about how the greens were "all screwed up". I couldn't help but chuckle a little.
So alas, we have "screwed up" the greens yet again. Every year, I talk at length about why it's important for maintenance of a high-performing, high-traffic putting surface blah blah organic matter blah blah drainage blah blah. Often when I am answering member's questions about aerification, the expression on their face is obviously a polite attempt to seem interested when their real train of thought is more akin to "I don't really give a crap, when will the greens stop sucking?" As many of my followers know, there are lots of good reasons we do this each year, and I will point you to the blog archives if you want my early, more detailed discussions of the reasons we screw the greens up each year. If you have specific questions, don't hesitate to email, call, or comment on the blog.
Overall, I am very pleased with how they came out. Again, we did not pull out any "core" from the green but merely applied heavy sand and proceeded to pound it into the profile with solid tines. This will allow for better putting conditions sooner and we get more sand into our profile this way, which really is the ultimate goal of the process. The steady rain that has pounded the golf course all morning will really help even out the sand and get the fertilizer washed in. With a little warmer weather, we should have a speedy recovery.
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| The topdresser applying a heavy sand layer. |
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| Most of the sand is gone once we punch 3/4 inch holes |
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After punching, a power brush whisks the sand into the holes. It takes about 5-times over the green to get all the holes filled.
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| Two types of fertilizer are applied to ensure a healthy and speedy recovery. |
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