Chipping green renovation

Now that the fall season is upon us, the weather is perfect for establishing new greens from seed.  As most of you are aware, the chipping green west of the driving range was used last fall as a nursery so we could plug fresh turf onto the golf course.  We were unable to renovate last fall due to other priorities on the golf course.  Also, we decided earlier in the season to delay reseeding until fall when the seed would have a better chance of survival.

Removal of old green

Over the last few days, the agronomy team has been working to remove the top four inches of the original green.  We also are taking the opportunity to expand the edge of the green out into the Bermuda to its original dimensions.  Years of Bermuda slowly encroaching inwards has left the green much smaller than it used to be.  Once the top four inches is removed, new greens mix is added back in to the green.  This root zone mixture is specifically blended for golf course greens and is 90% sand and 10% peat moss.  The peat moss allows the sand to retain moisture and nutrients.  After the new mix has been added, a tiller is used to blend the new sand mix with the original mix underneath.  This creates a more uniform soil profile and will improve the grasses ability to create long, healthy roots.  Once the profile has been thoroughly blended, the sand is raked, hand watered, and plate tamped.  The finished product is a smooth, firm sand surface that we can walk on without creating footprints.

Plate tamping of new profile

The last steps in the process are to fertilize, seed, then press the seed into the surface.  Seed to soil contact is crucial to the success of any establishment project.  This is accomplished with the tires of our bunker rake.  The tire tread is ideal for this because as the machine rolls across the green, little square depressions are created.  These depressions will help keep the seed moist and protect it from mower injury once we begin walk mowing.
During the next week or so, the chipping green will have a special irrigation schedule.  It will be running every few hours or so to keep the seed moist.  Once the seed germinates, we will begin to reduce the frequency and increase the amount of irrigation to promote deep rooting.

Blending root mix

Finished product before seeding

Fall greens aeration

It's time for fall greens aeration and after the summer we've had it couldn't have come sooner! You may have noticed some hole closures this week as we work our way through the course. We appreciate everyone's patience during this process.  The first day went as planned and the second day was ahead of schedule until our greens aerator broke down. We fixed the machine today and are planning on finishing the last few holes first thing tomorrow morning without disrupting play.