Preparations

 

Each spring, before the golf season begins, we prepare the greens for a grueling summer of more than 24,000 rounds of golf and all of the other environmental stresses of a golf season. If you have been paying any attention to this blog, you know how much thatch in the putting greens can be a problem. During the shoulder seasons we take advantage of the down time to get aggressive on removing thatch.
A few years ago I purchased some scarifying reels. They are deep vertical blades that help remove some of that organic matter in the soil profile. It is less invasive than pulling aerification cores and is easier with less labor to accomplish. In no way does scarifying replace core aerification, but it helps.
After pulling out some material, we run the aerifiers out on all the greens with solid tines to spike and vent the greens. Every 2 inches there is a 5/8" hole that allows the soil the breathe from a long cold hard winter.
We finally add sand topdressing and drag them into the holes. The sand has multiple benefits such as diluting thatch, creating a firmer surface, smoothing out the surface, helping ball marks and promoting growth. Once a part of the soil profile, the sand eases compaction rates from traffic, allows for better air, water and nutrient movement.
The recent weather has slowed us down with accomplishing all of these tasks, but we hope to finish this all be the end of the week. Keep your fingers crossed.