You can see by the photo that it is a chilly day in Highlands. Fortunately, our new bentgrass sod is rooted well enough to aerate it with 3/8" hollow tines. By aerating/topdressing and then rolling, it will smooth the surface faster. These photos show the work being done on the 17th green.
It is also that time of year when we rent a one-ton asphalt roller for the week. After a winter of various forms of aerification combined with the natural freeze/thaw action that occurs in sand based root zones, this heavy roller helps get us to the point where we want to be before regular scheduled mowings commence. We could use our own lightweight rollers, but it would take quite a few times to get to where this puts us after one rolling. You can see Chad is focused on the croquet lawns now, before moving onto the golf course. We'll be rolling all putting greens and our new sod areas (new tees and approaches) two directions to achieve the maximum benefit.
