Greens Venting

This morning, the grounds staff began venting the putting surfaces.  This process occurs every 2-3 weeks throughout the summer to improve drainage, relieve compaction, and increase oxygen content in the soil profile.  Venting allows us to maintain longer roots through the most stressful time of year.  As you can see from the picture above, there is very little disruption to the surface and the greens are playable immediately after the process.  As you play today and tomorrow, you may come across the machine.  Please excuse us while we wrap up the project.

#12 Bermuda Sod Work

This morning, the staff began cutting out some weak areas around the outside of #12 green.  These spots were the last remaining damage from the Leaf Spot outbreak we saw earlier this spring.  As you can see from the picture to the right, there was a sizable spot in the approach, which we were glad to remove.  There are also spots in the collar and along the backside of the green on both sides of the fan.   Despite the intense heat, the staff did a great job finishing up the whole surround by the end of the day.

Please keep out of these areas as much as possible while playing through #12.  Reducing the foot traffic in these areas will ensure a quick grow in.  Once the sod roots in, we will begin to lower the height of cut down to the necessary level.

Fairway Slicing

This week, the grounds staff solid tine aerated fairways using our Aerway shatter tine machine.  This machine has curved tines that twist under the surface as they come in and go back out of the soil. This slight twisting motion cracks the surrounding soil, loosening the clay to help improve air and water movement.  Our goal is to use this machine 3-4 times throughout the season to ensure more consistent moisture in the soil, improved density and a healthier plant.

The process is quite simple.  First, all irrigation heads and yardage markers are located to prevent damage.  Then, the Aerway slicer is used to solid tine the fairways.  Once this is complete, the fairway is then mowed to smooth the surface.  Lastly, the fairways are blown off to provide a clean, smooth finished product.  As you can see from the picture at the bottom of the post, the process creates very little disruption to the surface, while providing several key benefits to the soil below.