HIGHLAND CC GROUNDS

The first step is to heavily topdress with a high quality sand that we source out of Huntsville. Second, the Deep Tine Aerifier is run over the green. The sand is both punched into the green as well as vibrated into the holes. The third step is the greens are brushed using a tow behind brush. You can see the results here. The majority of the holes are filled to the top. You can also see the large amount of sand that has been worked into the turf canopy, creating a smooth surface and eventually working its way down to help dilute thatch.

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 als...

On Monday and Tuesday of next week we are scheduled to perform our annual Deep Tine Greens Aerification (VertiDrain). This is a process that we began last year to create vertical channels of sand that reach 8" into the soil profile. This not only relieves surface compaction, but it also breaks up compaction layers from regular aeration of only 3-4" deep. We will then be applying a large amount of sand via our topdresser and brushing it in to the holes. The end result is firmer greens with root depths that reach the full length of the channels throughout the following season. We will be placing the pins into the approaches during this process.