Greens Core Aerification

With the aeration season winding down for another year, it's a good time to discuss greens core aerification and the associated benefits. There have been misconceptions for years with "aerification" among golfers and the disruption to play outweighing the benefits of the coring process. Core Aerification is one of the dirty words of turfrass maintenance. Give a veteran superintendent a dollar for every time he has heard, ”why do you punch holes in our greens just when they start to look good?” and he would be a wealthy man. Unfortunately, today’s players are even less tolerant of core aerification. This has resulted in less frequent or smaller tine core aerification. 

An important purpose of core aeration is the physical removal of unwanted organic matter from the upper portion of the rootzone. When core aeration is neglected, the upper portion of the profile can be an inhospitable place for plant roots to grow. The pore space is a dense organic layer dominated by small, water-filled capillary pores, while the large air-filled macropores are lacking. Oxygen is necessary for the plant to carry out respiration, which is the conversion of stored food to energy. Respiration takes place in the roots and, therefore, good air exchange in the upper soil profile is vital to plant survival. Aerification of Turfgrass is a necessary evil (cultural practice) to maintain healthy plants. Benefits are Thatch control, Compaction relief, Beneficial air and gas exchange to the root zone, Improved water movement, Greater nutrient penetration, Increased shoot and root growth and improved soil structure... All vital to a healthy stand of grass mowed at less than .120 inches. 

A healthy stand of grass naturally recycles organic matter into the upper soil profile of greens when roots, shoots, stolons, and other plant parts are replaced throughout the season. This organic matter accumulation must be removed with core aeration! The medicine (Aerification) does not always taste good, but a healthy patient (grass) is worth the effort and inconvenience! 

Goal/Benefits-

The main focus with core aeration is thatch/organic matter removal and the introduction of fresh sand into the root zone. A healthy stand of grass naturally recycles organic matter into the upper soil profile of the green as Roots, Shoots, Solons and Plant Leaf material are replaced throughout the growing season. This organic matter accumulation must be removed with aggressive core aerification each Fall. The fresh sand channels introduced into the rootzone provide gas/oxygen exchange, improved drainage, firming playing surface, while creating a healthy environment for root growth.

Greens Coring Process-

1. The first step in the greens coring process is applying a generous layer of fresh topdressing sand to the surface of the green. By applying the sand topdressing ahead of the coring machine, this allows the fresh sand to be incorporated/vibrated into the fresh holes as the coring equipment moves across.

2. The greens are then cored with 1/2" hollow tines on 1.25" X 1" spacing, removing thatch and organic matter from the greens surface. The black "box" on the back of the Toro Pro Core 648 collects and drags the plugs (Thatch & Organic Matter) to the edge of the green for removal.

Fact: Appoximately 25 tons of debris (Thatch, Organic Material, Sand) are removed from 2.75 acres of greens and collars during this coring process. The plug piles are all shoveled up manually from around the greens one shovel full at a time by our amazing grounds staff! This is a monumental task for a crew of 6 guys and 3 haul vehicles, doing all 18 greens in one 13 hour work day!

3. The piles of debris (Thatch & Organic Matter) are then shoveled up from around the greens by staff members and moved to our storage location for composting. 

4. Greens are then blown off with backpack blowers, removing any excess fluffy organic material and moving the fresh sand on the surface into the open holes. The greens are then double rolled in two directions to smooth and firm the putting surface. 

5. The surface after it's been blown off and rolled in two directions, smoothing and sabalizing the surface for a second application of sand to completely fill the remaining holes and plant canopies.

6. Second application of fresh topdressing sand is applied to the greens, filling the remaining holes completely and "grouting the tile" on the greens surface. 

*Finished Product*

7. Upon completion of the greens coring process, approximately 25 tons of organic matter was removed from the greens and 45 tons of fresh sand was introduced back into the rootzones/surfaces.

2014 Putting Surface Recovery Timeline

This season the greens were completely healed in 2 weeks with outstanding recovery weather and a couple timely rains. We have been able to reduce disruption to play and improve healing time each year with new technologically sound coring equipment, improved plant fertilizers, and core cleanup techniques. The greens here at your club are in wonderful condition and hopefully this communication piece helps you better understand the coring process and benefits.

Short video showing the coring machine in action.

Greens Rooting & Needle Tine Benifits

The greens have been in fantastic condition and very healthy this summer, despite the challenging environmental conditions Mother Nature has dealt us. Overall, this summer has been normal or below average temperature wise, and we have only recorded a few days over 90 degrees at the club so far this season. The main challenges for the turf this summer has been heavy rainfall events with hot and humid weather conditions following for a week at a time. The greens have battled through the stressful periods of this summer season in fine fashion so far, with the help of routine needle tine venting and our aggressive cultural practices. Opening up channels for roots to breath and allowing the rootzone to rid itself of harmful gasses, makes all the difference in the world. Getting oxygen to the root system through needle tine venting, allows us to keep the greens in championship form throughout the stressful summer season.

Members ask from time to time... "Why do we punch small holes into the greens periodically during the summer?" Routine needle tine venting greens throughout the summer months has some wonderful benefits and there is a perfect example pictured above. The beautiful, white, healthy roots headed south into the rootzone, thriving in an oxygen rich environment and loving life.

Step by Step Greens Needle Tine Aerification Process

For more information on the needle tine process. Click Here

Topdressing & Needle Tine Venting

This morning the grounds team was very busy at the club before the normal Monday outing, mowing the entire golf course, filling divots on driving range tee/short game practice area, topdressed greens, needle tine vented greens, blew sand into open holes and rolled greens two times. With a busy club championship week behind us now for the golf course and the turf, this very productive morning has the course back in fantastic condition and ready for league tomorrow. 

Applying sand to the greens prior to venting.

After topdressing and needle tine venting.

After sand is blow into holes and double rolled.

Driving range tee dialed up and ready for action.

Today the grounds team did a fantastic job mowing and completing a bunch of detail jobs on a beautiful maintenance Monday. The remainder of the open needle tine holes will be closed after a double cut and roll tomorrow morning, leaving behind virtually no sign and a healthy putting surface that will be rolling firm and true.

For more information and the health benefits of needle tine venting. Click Here

Greensmower Brushes

We recently updated our Toro Flex 21 greens mowers with brushes. Last year we experimented with one mower/brush setup and were very excited with the results on the greens surface. This season we made the decision to adapt all six greens mowers with brushes to allow us to brush more frequently as conditions allow. 

The brushes ride out in front of the cutting reel at just the perfect angle and essentially stand up and comb out the grass before it's mowed, similar to combing out your hair before cutting. Brushing helps to eliminate grain, tightening the surface and ultimately improving ball roll distance on the greens.

The addition of brushes to our greens mowers has already been noticed in the overall quality of the putting surface this season and will be a great new tool in our greens management program arsenal.

Spring DryJect

The DryJect process is 21st century aerification at it's finest and leaves virtually no trace behind on the playing surface. This is the first season we have used the DryJect technology on our greens and we are very excited about the results this will make throughout the golfing season for us. We plan to use this form of aerification in the spring each season to minimize the disruption to the playing surface, that conventional core aerification typically leaves behind.

The DryJect machines inject kiln dried sand into the greens to a depth of 5-6" on 2X3" spacing with very little disruption. Our target was 1 ton of Sand/Green and we actually did better than that, using 23 tons total on all 19 greens. That's pretty impressive to think about! 

In the above picture you can see the fresh sand channels that have been injected into the profile of the green, providing many benefits for the overall health of the green and playing conditions. This process leaves behind a very small hole on the surface and a large deposit of sand beneath, deluting organic matter, along with promoting more healthy vigorous root systems and providing better water infiltration.

 

Short Video Showing the DryJect Machine In Operation.

The Crew Getting a Lesson On How the Machines Operate

Sand Delivery

Preparing To Fire Up the First Machine and Observe Operation.

Check out this link for more information on the DryJect technology. www.dryject.com/howitworks

First Verticut & Sand Topdressing

Verticutting the Greens In Two Directions

Today we double verticut the greens and spread a light sand topdressing for the first time this season. Vertical mowing of the greens is performed on a biweekly basis throughout the season as Mother Nature allows. The greens are topdressed weekly with a light coating of sand to smooth the playing surface and continue to dilute organic matter in the greens surface. Both of these cultural practices along with many others, play a intricate roll in our greens management program here at the club.

Green Surface After Light Two Direction Verticut

Verticutting utilizes a mechanical device with vertically rotating blades that cut into the turf surface to remove excess thatch or leaves, depending upon how deep the blades are set. Verticutting can have a positive influence on putting green firmness, as well as trueness and ball roll distance.

Mowing the Greens After Verticut

After verticutting, the green is mowed to tighten up the surface. This catches any leaf material that's sticking straight up and combed out from the verticutters.  

Light Sand Topdressing Being Applied

Sand is applied at the precise amount to match the growth of the turfgrass plants and smooth the putting green surface weekly throughout the growing season. Topdressing has many benefits for the golfer and the superintendent  including, firming/smoothing the surface, modifying the soil structure in the top layer, thatch dilution, and ball mark recovery.  

Blowing Sand Into Green Surface

The sand topdressing is then blown into the verticut grooves and into the canopy of the turfgrass plants. Using a blower to incorporate sand into the surface of the greens helps to eliminate bruising and added traffic from a cart and drag brush/mat.

Firm, Fast and Healthy!

Finished product ready to be rolled with the speedroller and watered in with a light irrigation cycle. This entire process takes 3-4 staff members about 4 hours to complete and is usually preformed on Monday's throughout the golfing season. Weekly light sand topdressing has a huge positive impact on ball roll distance and our ability to keep greens at a championship level on a daily basis.