In an effort to reduce the likelihood of needing to close our regular greens and use temporary greens throughout the rainy fall, winter and spring months, we will be solid deep-tine aerating them early next week to maximize their drainage potential. It’s no secret that our greens have very poor internal drainage, much of which has failed entirely and is well beyond its useful life. Poor drainage is actually worse than no drainage at all, as failed drainage will hold water in the compromised drainage lines keeping the soil profile saturated instead of simply allowing it to soak through. The deep-tine aeration will be result in ¾ inch channels that are 8 inches deep, which will greatly improve infiltration rates for our greens to surface drain much better allowing them to remain open for play more often while ultimately providing a smoother, drier and firmer playing surface. Our conventional aeration process in the spring and late summer only affects the top 4 inches or so of the soil profile to provide oxygen to the turf root zone.
The only downside to deep-tine aerating our greens is that immediately following the process, they will be a bit bumpy as they heal. However, the addition of a generous sand topdressing ahead of the process, followed by brushing and lots and lots of rolling will mitigate much of the bumpiness and expedite the healing process. This process will be completed “in-house” with equipment that we own.
As with any tasks that we don’t routinely schedule, completing a test run prior to doing the bulk of the work is key to make any necessary adjustments and to dial in the equipment settings to achieve the desired results. We completed this test run on #4 green this morning and here were the results:
