Greens Aerification April 23rd

 The greens were aerified on Monday April 23rd, and man did the need it. The last core removal aerification happened last year in June. The year two scheduled aerifications were cancelled due to the excessive heat and lack of rainfall. This was a huge setback in managing the organic layer and thatch build up. If one of the two or both was to get out of control, it would take nearly a full growing season to get the excessive amounts of thatch and organic build up removed from the profile.
 The ultradwarf bermudas require a great deal more of maintenance compared to the TifDwarf greens that was here for the first 16 years. One of my rules are "30 % of material from the profile must be removed on a yearly basis".
 Take our aerifications we do, by using a 3/8" side eject tine; We aerifiy on 1.5" centers that will remove
11% of the product--multiply that by three aerifications and you have 33% of product removed in a years time, awesome. . .
 Now comes the sand. I cannot stress the importance of the amount of sand needed, this is huge in coming weeks and months. When we top dress the greens during aerifications we want enough sand to fill every hole plus leave a nice layer on the green. As each day goes by after we have aerified the sand on top will move into any areas where the sand may have settled or sunk into a hole. By keeping a layer of sand on top the putting quality will improve in consistently true putt as far as speed and breakage. This area is HUGE, sand sand, and sand. I can't express it enough!!!!!!
 I would expect the recovery time to be a little slower than normal this spring. The morning temperature fell to 49 degrees the next day and continued in the 50 degree area for three straight days. Once morning temps are staying in the 70's grass will begin to grow a whole lot better.


Willy Plowman
Golf Course Superintendent