On Monday we completed our heavy topdressing and deep tine aerification. All of our greens were brushed leaving little sand on the surface and the majority in the 8" deep holes. To ensure that we got as much sand as possible into the profile as well as into the turf canopy, we topdressed all greens again this morning at a half rate (compared to yesterday). The greens will obviously be playing rather "sandy" for a bit now. With the forecasted rain events in the next few days the sand will work its way down and we will be looking at green grass again soon. Just as a foot note, over this day and a half process we put down approx. 40 tons of topdressing sand on just under 3 acres of greens. This process will not only encourage deep rooting next season, but will also help to keep melting ice and snow away from the turf canopy (by acting as drains) during those winter freeze/thaw cycles that can be so dangerous to putting greens. As with most of our cultural practices this also helps us achieve our goal of fast and firm putting surfaces for the future. I will be posting some pictures of the process with description in the next few days.
Last fall we utilized a “new to us” method of revitilization for our practice tee. Our contractor TDS, fraize mowed the surface of the tee to remove organic matter as well at to aid in leveling. The tee was then aerified and seeded to a new variety of creeping rye grass. We chose this type of turf grass as research shows rapid recovery and a low growth habit. We were able to get some great growth in the fall, but the tee is still not ready for traffic and full use. The plan is to utilize the mats until growth has filled in some of the voids etc. We will then begin to slowly set up hitting areas on the grass tee. For a while we will alternate between grass and the mats with a 50/50 ratio of use. Once the grass tee is established and is in adequate recovery mode, the practice areas will be back to normal. As always our membership’s patience is appreciated as we try to improve these areas for use.
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