Aerifying Greens Complete! We Started Months Ago... We Finally Finished!

OK... We finished the process of aerifying, overseeding and topdressing greens on Thursday, but the planning started months ago. Year-long turf health balanced with consistently outstanding playability means everyone is going to have to give in periodically. You can't have one without the other. The proverbial tightrope. I won't bore you with the long-term info that most are not interested in. Let's keep them healthy, improve them and get them back to normal ASAP!
I predict a strong finish!

Let's talk in terms of the last two weeks.

• I cant wait to aerify, overseed and topdress the greens! Tough weather, compaction, overseed, etc. etc.
• Two weeks to go we are making sure all equipment is ready, starting to pray for good weather, transition greens by increasing fertilizer and reducing growth regulator. The plan is to have the fertilizer kicking in as the growth regulator is "petering out". A delicate balance when you consider the golf calendar and uncontrollable weather.
• I want the holes to close up in two weeks and be smooth (requiring a total of $7,000 worth of sand including thatchy approaches), but I don't want the holes to close so fast I don't get a good seed catch (more desirable creeping bentgrass).
• CONFUSED YET?
• We invest a lot in the annual August aerification and overseeding project. Time, money, sacrifice short-term playability of other areas of the course, basically everything we've got to help turf that survived summer stresses, improve summer-thinned turf with overseeding and more importantly start our preparations for this winter's and next summer's stress periods. Yes, we start now!
• Our goal from now on is to improve our finely managed turfgrass areas to withstand upcoming stresses while balancing the playability our members are accustomed to and deservedly expect.

Long story short: It rained, it was cloudy, it was sunny, it was foggy... We finished on Thursday and we even snuck a mowing in on Friday afternoon. They look good! They will only get better! Especially if the annual overseeding takes, turf continues to heal and the members think the course is playing like Augusta by the eighth of September.

We got this!

Give me a call for the long version which comes with more technical references while reducing the ratio of questions to answers depending upon the humor level of the member asking and the relationship within the above mentioned quandaries which can be presented through a possibly anticipated dialogue and the answers I may respond with which is entirely dependent upon the above mentioned but not limited to... as if their really were any questions?

Greens will be good in two weeks! Have Fun!