We spent the last few days doing our twice annual greens aeration process. We know this operation is never at the best time, but it is scheduled to allow for recovery before the winter sets in. Timing this procedure a year before it happens is always dicey and you hope the weather gods look kindly on you.
This process has been talked about many times but a few items need to be reiterated just to make some sense of the process.
The coring Tines are .4 inches in diameter.
The spacing is 2.0 " by 1.33 inches.
This equates to 54 holes per square foot.
This correlates to only 4.72% of the surface disturbed.
At a 3" depth we removed 9.84 cubic feet/1000 sq ft of organic material.
We used nearly 40 tons of sand to work back into the holes
Interesting that at twice a year we affect only 9.5% of the surface. Now it seems that those areas must all be where your ball putts along, but most standards suggest to affect 20% of the surface a year. We try to add to this amount through some light verticutting in the spring, but in most cases we fall short of keeping up with the established recommendations due to the time and playability.
After we finish the process we allow the greens to rest for at least two days. This allows the turf to recover from bruising due to the sand and to grow a bit. As soon as a mower shears through sand, it is done as far a mowing is concerned and only adds to the damage by gnawing at the turf.
The link below is a you tube video of the entire process from start to finish. This little movie was directed and edited by Trevor Garbow, the assistant in charge of nearly everything here at the green department. A nice little production demonstrating the work that goes into just this one operation.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzUIJWdRjUI
Now repeat this 20 more times and you've finished just the the greens! Fertilizer and water are extra......
