Fall Aeration Progress

The aeration process appears at times like taking a step backwards before we take a bigger step forward. It is definitely one of those necessary evils. The consequences of neglecting aeration must be considered as well as embracing this opportunity to incorporate sand and calcium and seed. Without opening the surfaces up, it is hard to get these very beneficial elements into the soil and refresh some old tired areas with new life in the way of seed not to mention  providing opportunities for air and water to infiltrate the root zone as well as removing excessive organic matter or thatch.

Seed for the Fairways - Too much $$$ to Allow to Dry Out

 One thing that I have neglected to mention in the past is the fall aeration / turf renovation process temporarily exposes turf to the elements making them prone to drying out. Additionally the processes are done in conjunction with turf over-seeding in which it is essential that soil remains damp during seed germination. Therefore the golf course will be wetter then normal during this process. 

• Tees - Tees were over seeded on 9/16/13 with the exception of the forward pebble tees which needed to be undisturbed for the GBLGA Friendship Cup. All other tees that were over seeded on this date have germinated ryegrass on them and the forward tee which were seeded on 9/20/13 are two weeks behind. Our hybrid bermuda tees will go dormant and brown hence the need for timely over seeding. 

Preparing #3 Tee for Over Seeding

Two Weeks After Over Seeding

Pebble Tee on #4 Awaiting Ryegrass to Germinate

• Greens - Process went well with very few issues or setbacks. We did not aerate main PG because I thought it would benefit from a week or two with some extra fertility and "thicken up" a little bit before we aerate. We plan to aerate this green on Monday 10/14/13. This coming Monday 10/7/13 we are going to vertical mow X2, seed, apply potassium and a high phosphorus fertility, roll and water all regulation greens along with tilleys and the Chipper. We will roll through this weekend and mow them 7 days after aerated on Tuesday 10/8/13. 

Aerating #9 Green on Tuesday

#2 Green on Thursday Afternoon after Topdressing
and Several Afternoon Brushings

• Fairways - Completed  core aeration and vertical mowing on 1,2,4,5,6. Completing solid tine aeration, scarifying, vertical mowing on 10 -16 right now. Our intentions were to core aerate, allow cores to dry, process with the scarifyer and sweep and mow. This process proved to be too aggressive  and we had to change it up. Even with  going back to solid tine aeration  the scarifyer or deep vertical mower set at the same depth as it was last year was too aggressive and we had to raise it up. Raising the blades up is not removing as much thatch but it is not damaging areas that are on the dry side and it is making a nice slit for seed and sand. 

Aerating #4 Fairway

Scarifying #10 After Some Adjustments

•  Next Week - As planned driving range tee, targets, old sandtraps are slated for aeration and over seeding on Monday 10/7/13 as well as the practice area. All week we plan to continue topdressing and seeding fairways along with finishing the aeration of fairway #'s 8-9 & 17-18.