Greens Aeration Recovery

It's been a week since we started the fall greens aeration project and we are very pleased with the recovery so far.  It usually takes about 7-10 days for the holes to completely fill in and we seem to be right on track.  The weather over the past four days was cloudy, cool, with periodic rain.  This moist, cool weather provided the turf with a low stress environment to recover from all the stress from earlier in the week.  This week looks to be sunny but still cool.  I am excited for the greens to finish healing in and we should be in great shape for the week end.

Construction Update

The construction crew has started to remove the bridge on 86th St this morning.  They said they hope to have the new bridge constructed and have the northern two lanes ready for traffic within the next 30-45 days.  

Fall Greens Aeration

It's Wednesday morning and now that all 18 holes are back open, I thought I would revisit the aeration project that the agronomy staff just completed.  Core aeration is a common practice in the spring and fall for all golf courses with Bentgrass greens.  This process is the single most effective way to physically remove excess organic matter from the soil profile, while also improving: soil oxygen, reducing compaction, and improving drainage.  Although this process is fairly disruptive to the putting surface, the agronomy staff works very hard to ensure that putting quality is affected for as little time as possible.  Usually within 7 days, the greens are back to normal and the average person wouldn't even be able to tell we had done anything.  I've written about all the various steps in previous posts, so I won't go into great detail but I have included a few pictures to outline the steps involved with the project.

Greens are dethatched two different directions, then mowed

Soil cores are removed with aerator

Topdressing sand is applied after holes are punched and cores removed

Brushing sand into holes

Lastly, greens are rolled smooth and excess sand is removed

Course green up

#14 August

It's been a little over a week since the 2" of rain and the course has responded very nicely.  The tees, fairways and surrounds have all filled in very quickly.  Except for a few non-irrigated areas, the rough has come back better than expected.  We have taken the additional water in our ponds and have started to water the course so we can keep the green up going.  It looks like we might get some more rain on Friday but we'll wait and see.

#17 September

Road Project

Although unrelated to agronomy, or course conditions, the road widening project that started this week does have an impact on the golf course operation.  Members, and guests, that wish to play must now go to 96th st. north and come down Mingo road to access the golf course.  This may be an inconvenience but the road improvements are long over due.  The agronomy department is excited for this project for several reasons: the road we take to work will be much nicer than before; the road will be twice as wide so we can except semi-truck deliveries easier; and the grading work, and sod, that will go down on either side of the road will fix the low areas that trap water and are difficult to mow.