Putting Surface Maintenance March 2020

The golf course is still open during these challenging times for golf members to get out of the house, get a little exercise and enjoy their golf course. We are grateful to be preparing the course for you and at the same time remaining employed and we  hope that everyone is safe and healthy.

Both golf and golf course maintenance schedules have been been pretty fluid in 2020 and it looks like this dynamic will continue into the foreseeable future. Our adjusted overall strategy this year is to keep a frequent, less aggressive approach to cultivation practices on the golf course such as aerification. On Monday 3/2/20 we deep tine aerated the greens and Monday 3/30/20 we spiked the greens along with adding granular fertility and seed. Below are some pictures of the process.

Above is a putting surface aerifyer set up with solid spiking tines. These tines make a 1/4" wide hole 4" deep facilitating much needed air to the surface's root system.

Close-up view of the aerification pattern. This hole pattern is approximately 2"X 2".

After the spiking we run a vertical mower over the surface to groom it and provide slits or avenues for bentgrass seed to make soil contact and establish.

Bentgrass seed is very small.

Next we apply a medium-light dusting of sand to the surfaces.

Followed by granular fertility application. Open holes are a perfect opportunity to get nutrients incorporated into the soil via open holes  such as calcium, magnesium and slow release potassium.

The finishing touch is brushing the seed, sand and nutrients into the aeration holes and vertical mowing lines. Next we apply some water to push the seed, sand and nutrients down into the turf canopy. Final touch is to roll the surfaces the following morning. Putting quality will not be effected by this process although there might be traces of sand evident which is not that foreign as we frequently light topdress the greens during the growing season.