Aerification Recap

Monday was a long, yet excellent day with perfect weather for our spring aerfication.  We got started as soon as we could fire up the aerifiers and worked on 9 green and the chipping green.

During this process, expect the unexpected, which was a mechanical problem right off the bat.  The aerifiers have a part called a turf guard that holds down the green's surface while the tines pull plugs.  On one machine, the turf guard was about 1/4 inch above the surface and allowed the green to lift up.  This is fairly common with the aggressive setup we were using, but the results are a bit scary.













The depressions you see in the green are footprints as the crew works to clear the plugs.  The surface was raised over an inch.  We adjusted the machine and traded out some tension springs to lessen the impact, but we had to settle with some lumpy greens.  This is nothing that a roller can't fix with a few passes on the green.  On Tuesday, the roller was busy smoothing out the surface and the results are nearly immediate.


You'll be seeing some more work with brooms, rollers, drag mats, and shovels as we get the sand just right.  There are many factors that determine the time required for the greens to heal.  Temperature, fertility,  and moisture all play an important role.  Most important is the hole size, which is relatively small at 3/8 of an inch.  We were able to take out more with small holes at close spacing than large holes at a wider spacing, so it's a win-win for the greens and the membership.

The other factor that makes a major difference is the amount of sand on the greens.  In the photo to the left, we are removing some excess sand from #1.  We only had a few greens with too much sand and we had zero greens with too little.  Each hole needs to be filled to the top and "capped" with sand.  If the greens have too little sand, each hole will become a dimple and heal time is greatly increased.  Even worse, after the hole closes, there is still a depression and perhaps a darker circle of turf at each aerification hole.  In summary, sandy greens are a good thing.




Finally, the crew tells me that this is the first time they finished all the greens in one day.  I was very pleased with the efforts of every single person and they will be rewarded with one of our afternoon cookouts, sponsored by the club.  I can smell the carne asada now.