With fairway aerification underway this week, we will turn our attention to greens next week. Greens aerification will be completed October 5 -7, weather conditions permitting, and six temporary greens will be in play each day to maintain 18 holes of play.

Greens Aerification

The process for aerification of the greens will remain the same this fall as in previous years. It has been successful in delivering clean results and promoting the long-term health and success of the greens.

The process is:

• Pull cores and remove them from the surfaces
• Topdress using dried sand
• Deep tine aeration using a Verti-Drain (see photo below)

• Slit seeding to further incorporate sand and bentgrass seed into the greens
• Rolling of the greens
• Brush any remaining sand into the turf canopy (see photo below)

• Fertilize the green to promote growth and recovery

Aerification of the greens is completed two times each season. This is important for a variety of reasons:

• Incorporates oxygen into the profile and helps to promote root growth
• Reduces organic matter, which when levels in the soil get too high it can lead to an increase in disease pressure, moisture challenges and softer conditions
• Increases the creeping bentgrass population through seeding; the preferred turf species which is more winter and ice damage-tolerant

Each green takes approximately five hours to complete from start to finish. If you are out playing golf during the aerification, take a look at the work that maintains the surfaces of the golf course.

If you have any questions about this topic or anything else on the course, please do not hesitate to contact me at your convenience.

Chris Bouwers
Course and Property Manager
cbouwers@creditvalleygolf.com