Summer Aeration

I've slacked on posting updates and will have to play catch up soon, but for now we'll touch on the present. While the course is holding up well right now, even through the recent two day heat wave, we can't forget our ultimate goal: to build a stronger, healthier turf. A big part of this is the continued effort to increase rooting mass and depth. The best way to do this is to continue to make aeration holes. These holes allow water to penetrate deeper and get oxygen to the roots. Both these stimulants encourage the roots to dive deep in the holes. The deeper the roots, the more aggressive we can be in the future with major aerations, cultivation practices, pushing for faster greens speeds and drying the greens down without fear of losing grass.

Here's the machine we used yesterday to needletine aerate the entire back 9. You can see how thin, but long, the tines are.

Here's how the green looks immediately following a pass made by the machine. It's hard to tell in the photo, but that flag sits about 4 1/2" deep in the aeration hole.

We immediately follow the aeration with a quick roll of the green and the surface looks like above. The holes are still there, but hardly noticeable, with virtually no disruption to the playability of the surface.

The front 9 will be completed within the next week and we will continue to use practices such as these to help improve the growth and health of the greens through the summer. I look forward to the day we only have to water the greens once a week because the roots are so deep, and we can keep the surface firmer and faster.