Fall aeration has
finally arrived!! During a long year of very difficult weather conditions it’s
time to relieve the soil of compaction, create pore spacing for gas exchange,
and also add some much needed nutrient to the golf course grounds of Panther Creek.
On Wednesday, September 20th we began our process on Greens and
Fairways.
The Greens process starts with the surface being aerified
with a .400” by 6.5” coring tine, followed by a heavy topdressing, and then a
two to three hour drying process. Once the greens are dry we take a sweep and
fill broom in two directions to get all of the holes filled with sand followed
by a cocoa mat drag which cleans up any leftover sand on the surface and
incorporates it into the green canopy. The process only takes two days to
complete on all 18 holes allowing us to keep 9 holes open for play at all
times. I expect the greens to be almost completely healed in one weeks’ time.
Fairway aeration
will begin the same day as the greens. The difference is the tine size: ¾” x
5.75”, along with the process of trying to redistribute the existing material
back into the holes and turf surface. After the units have worked the area
there is typically a 3 hour wait until the cores are dry enough to start
working with. We start with a Haro rake behind one of our carts breaking and
flipping the cores and then follow it with a flail mowing deck which breaks the
cores into very small pieces. After the flail we’ll drag the loose material
into the holes and then blow the fairway clean of any of the grass tufts that
are left over. This process usually takes us three days to complete and the
limited cart use on fairways typically lasts a week. We will be working on the tees
during the following weeks after greens and fairways are completed. Play will
only be minimally affected by the same process we use on fairways.
We on
the Grounds staff appreciate the opportunity to do this type of maintenance on
the course knowing full well it takes some of the best time to play golf out of
your season. I know moving forward that this work being done on an annual basis
will lead us as a club to better turf and also to a better preforming golf course.
As always if you have any questions or concerns please
contact me anytime.
Greg Willman
546-1469
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