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