Ed performing the dastardly task!


We have all come to know and love the dreaded task of dealing with greens aerification. Maintenance employees prepare for days of dawn to dark hours and golfers prepare for poor putting conditions. The only one that loves the process is the turf which can now breath again after the long periods of stress.
You’ve all heard me discuss that greens aerification is the most beneficial cultural practice I can do to provide you with the best putting conditions possible during the long uninterrupted playing season. What you may not know is that we are always looking for ways to improve upon the process. We constantly strive to attain the healthiest turf while reducing member inconvenience.
2010 will be much improved! We will be using a different more versatile style aerator which provides more flexibility in hole size and quality.
The early season aerification will be done by making holes that are only the diameter of a golf pencil. Immediately following the aerification, the greens will play much better and the healing process will be quicker.
The September aerifying will be performed with tines that leave a hole size that is slightly larger than what was used in the spring aerification. Again, smaller than any hole in 2009.
In addition, we will now be separating the more invasive deep tine aerification to late November. This will greatly improve the late September healing that has been less than pleasant this fall.
We will be testing different deep tine hole sizes to find the least invasive. The goal is to find a hole size that still accomplishes the agronomic goal yet doesn’t cause the undesirable putting conditions in the spring of 2011.
As you can see, the plan I have formulated should truly improve your experience with the most imperative turf conditioning tool at my disposal.
I hope you’re as excited as I am as we look forward to a tremendous 2010!