Tuesday, August 22, 2017

How often should we aerify greens?

This is a great article that offer basic insight to decisions regarding aerification.  I hear a lot of comments about this from members- most feel that due to our short season (which really isn't short in terms of northern climate golf courses- It's actually a long season) we shouldn't cause any disruption.  I wish that were case more than anyone else.  However, I would be doing the HCC membership a major disservice if I didn't aerify and disrupt the greens.  A few weeks of less than perfect greens and complaints, outweighs the alternative: closing the golf course for 6 months to renovate greens.  With a USGA spec green, it wouldn't take long for greens failure to occur as organic material clogged the root zone.  With aerification, there is no denying the fact it needs done, the question continues to be, when can we do it to create the least amount of disruption to out members? 
 
A combination of 3 DryJect aerations scheduled in September and November, coupled with 5/8" hollow tine coring and a 3mm Graden Verticutting (with sand injection) in the spring, give us the necessary displacement to ensure the long term health of the greens. On top of this, we are lightly topdressing every 14 days and using 1/4" hollow tines 1-2x throughout the season.