Aerificaton Week

Next week (weather permitting) we are planning aerifying the greens. The plan is to aerify the back nine on Monday and then to reverse the nines and aerify the front on Tuesday. Each day we hope to open the aerified nine by 10:30! We would normally do all eighteen greens in one day but the course we share machines with planned on plugging the same day so we are both taking two days to complete the procedure.

This time of year, so much depends on the weather and so far we have been pretty fortunate. Hoping not to jinx us, there is always the possibility of getting rained out. Having dry sand is the most important aspect of plugging the greens. This is to insure that the holes will get filled. If they are not filled, the time to heal can be extended.

This spring we have chosen to use the 1/4 inch quad tine. The holes are much smaller than the traditional 5/8 inch but since we went extremely aggressive last fall we feel that the 1/4 inch will be sufficient. The first benefit we will notice will be the quick heal time. Actually there will be very little, if any, disruption of putting quality during this time. We will roll the greens immediately following aerification and then we will be using a new brush to fill the holes.

This year while I was at the show in Orlando, I found a new greens brush that was developed by an ingenious superintendent. He and his partner developed a reverse spinning brush that sweeps the sand in the holes and it is amazing how well it works. The two have since split into two separate companies and I located a distributor here in the northwest that reps one of the units. Friday we decided to plug the nursery green and give it a test and the results were amazing. I have always said that the Toro Procore 648 was the best invention of the decade and now I think I have found the next best invention of the decade. Twice over the green and every single hole is filled. If all goes well weather wise next week, you will be amazed how well these greens will putt. Just because we are aerifying don't feel you are going to have bumpy conditions. You are going to love these greens!