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It is my intention to give the readers a better understanding of what we do to maintain The Farms Country Club's 18 hole championship golf course and grounds.


Saturday, August 26, 2017

Green Aerification complete! What You Should Know

Aerification of the greens is the most important piece of the maintenance puzzle. It is integral to our ability to provide a consistent quality putting surface throughout the season.
I know... Greens are great and then we aerify.
Truthfully, we have worked hard to manipulate when, how and what we do to minimize member inconvenience and maximize the indisputable agronomic benefits of the process.
Our goal is to continue our long range plan of increasing the creeping bentgrass population on greens, reduce compaction, manage thatch, improve soil oxygen exchange and the list goes on. It is a delicate balancing act and we are reaping the rewards with our ever evolving maintenance regime. I won't bore you with more technical details.
We started Wednesday with the aerification and overseeding process. The weather was perfect!. The root system of our greens are most weak at the end of August. I am always concerned that root systems may be overly compromised in late August and we might do more damage than I find acceptable.
Remember, My goal is to have the greens back in shape in two weeks.
What am I thinking?
What is the plan?

  1. Aerify greens with 5/8 inch hollow tines.
  2. Topdress greens and make sure holes are completely filled "top to bottom" with sand. This is important because holes that are not filled correctly will be an agronomic problem. I will not bore you with details.
  3. Use overseeder, with aggressive blades, to introduce a variety of the best creeping bentgrass cultivars available.
  4. Roll greens.
  5. Topdress lightly again which ensures smooth greens in two weeks.
  6. Drag the greens again, using a light bristle brush to fill every hole and groove from aerifier and overseeder. It is important to have the correct amount of sand down right away or we will chase bumpy greens well after two weeks.
  7. Apply appropriate wetting agents, fertilizers and plant protectants to facilitate turf recovery, root growth and seed germination.
So far so good!
  • Fix your ballmarks because greens will be softer than you are used too!
    • Ballmarks will be obvious