Aerification Recap

Here is a recap on the Aerification process that took place earlier in the week.  Perfect weather (with the exception of some heavy frost delaying our start each morning) and a dedicated staff played a vital role in completing tees, approaches and fairways on all 27 holes and practices areas.

Tees/Approaches:

The process began on Monday morning by pulling a 5/8 inch core on the tees and approaches of the Highlands nine.  The depth of 1-1 1/2 inches into the profile was addressed to remove thatch and organic matter while providing a channel for sand to be introduced while topdressing to improve drainage and firmness.

The staff used blowers, shovels and tools to push the cores into piles during the clean-up process.  Of course, Rutger kept a watchful eye on the entire process.  The cores were stock-piled in dumps and at the shop to be used later on cart path edges, stump holes and other imperfections in the rough as a fill material.

Following clean-up, our newly hired Assistant Superintendent, Matt Wolfe amended each surface with a product call Renovate Plus.  This combination product will help to open tight soils (improve porosity/drainage), speed up recovery and stimulate soil biology.















After amending, George Manos (our Golf Course Superintendent) conducted the process of topdressing both playing surfaces to improve the profile for drainage, rooting and firmness.  A drag mat was then used to work the sand into the holes that had been created.  With the frost, the process took about 2 days to complete as we wrapped up 3-6 on Flynn early Wednesday morning.  8 and 17 approach on Flynn along with the Driving Range tees will be topdressed early next week.     





Highland Greens:

Like the week before on Flynn, we took advantage of the weather to conduct the practice of deep tinning on the Highland greens this past Monday.  We were able to penetrate the profile at a depth of 8 inches to encourage oxygen exchange for root development and deeper channels for infiltration within the putting surfaces.  This practice will be performed again on Flynn in a couple of weeks in conjunction with aerification of all greens on April 8th and 9th.

Fairways:

Our Contractor, Aer-core, began the process of fairway Aerfication on Tuesday morning.  All 27 holes recieved a 5/8 inch core removed to address the thatch and organic material build-up similar to the practice conducted in-house on tees and approaches.  They took two full days to complete the process.

Following the completion of pulling cores, a member of the Aer-core team would drag the fairways with a tine harrow to break off the thatch and help work any soil from the cores into the holes.

Once the dragging was complete, they used sweepers to pick up the left over material while providing the clean finished  product.  We provided some operators to help speed up the process by hauling off the material to our dumps.  In addition to fairways, the practice was completed on the Driving Range tees and short game fairway.

Overall I couldn't be happier with the week!  Not just the finished product but how the staff stepped up knowing that we were under a narrow window to complete prior to the rain on Thursday.  Mission Accomplished!  Next week, will start with fertilizing all playing surfaces that were aerified on Monday.  We will topdress the remaining approaches and practice areas before shifting gears on prepping Flynn to open.  Bunker work, first cuts and additional clean-up of debris will be our additional focus.  

Again, thank you for your cooperation and understanding of this bi-annual process of aerification on playing surfaces.  With the exception of greens, there will be minimal impact to the course throughout the season.