Aerification Spring 2015

Spring is the time for us as Turfgrass Managers, to start thinking of the new season that will be upon us in just a few short months. It is an important time to prepare the turf for the stresses of the summer heat, and relentless pest pressure. To prepare the turf, we use a combination of cultural practices including the most important one, aerification.

The turf grows in a unique environment, getting nutrients and life support from the soil. An ideal soil system is 50% insoluble material, while the other 50% is made up of 25% water, and 25% oxygen. If you noticed, I mentioned “ideal.” Over the winter months the soil has become saturated with water, and since the insoluble material cannot be displaced, oxygen is pushed from the soil system as well as the plant respiration which adds carbon dioxide to the profile. This leaves the turf in a less than desirable situation.

With that being said, as turf managers, we make the decision to core aerify the turf. The goal is to balance the soil’s three part system, while also removing unwanted thatch created by the natural attrition of the shoots, roots, and stems. The process also enhances nutrient uptake while the plant begins the root driving process. We remove about 10% of the turf’s surface. To offset thatch buildup, removal of 20% of the surface per year is recommended by the USGA. That gives us the reasoning behind the need of twice per year. Click here for the recommendations of the USGA.

Aerification is a disruptive process. Playing conditions will be affected for up to four weeks, depending upon weather. An application of fertilizer, one week before aerification day, will get the plant growing rapidly. Expect reduced green speeds coming into aerification. The day of aerification, after we have filled the holes completely with sand, we will apply another application of fertilizer. The purpose of increased fertility during this process is to speed up the healing process and give the plant the nutrition it needs to grow roots.

Later this month and in April, we will finish the teeing areas and aerify nine holes of fairways. We have had bad luck with the weather which has slowed our process, but we are still moving along fairly well considering the hangups.  We will be applying fertilizer to the fairways and begin our summer fertility program as the weather continues to improve.  I look forward to this coming season.  It will be a great year to get out there and play some golf.

Justin C. Ruiz, CGCS, MG
justinr@indiansummergolf.com

Fairway Plan

This fall we were planning on aerifying the fairways but with the weather turning colder and the summer staff going away for the winter months we have decided to take a different approach.  This fall we are going to solid tine to reduce the amount of labor needed for the cleanup and then follow with sand.  We will continue to topdress the fairways to keep our outstanding winter playability.

The spring will be the time we turn to wall to wall aerification.  To help us get this project done in a timely manner we will hire in a contracted company to help with the process.  The weather in the spring is always intermittent so we will try to communicate the dates the best we can as we get closer to time.  This year we aerified greens in early May.  We will try to get the fairways done well before we do the greens in 2014.

If you have any questions about the upcoming processes please feel free to contact me.

Justin Ruiz, CGCS, MG
justinr@indiansummergolf.com

Chipping Green Renovation Update

The chipping green at the practice facility was not a good representation of the golf course this last year. We decided to make use of our aerification plugs from the greens to renovate the small chipping green.

We redesigned the chipping green to have three separate tiers and nearly double the square footage. The reason for the larger size was to give us the ability to use a portion for a nursery if we needed. We also wanted to make it possible to practice a variety of different shots around the green.

The green is coming along really well and we are planning our first cut very soon. If you have any comments or questions about the renovated chipping green, please contact me.

Justin Ruiz, CGCS, MG

justinr@indiansummergolf.com

 

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Fall Aerification 2011 recap

Fall aerification on the greens is now behind us.  Here is some pictures of the process.

If you have any questions or comments about our process or aerification in general please contact me.

Justin Ruiz, CGCS
justinr@indiansummergolf.com







We had to install a new magnetic clutch on our Procore.






We used a lot of the extra plugs to fill in any sink holes or low areas on the course.


Our Toro Workman blew a head gasket after the last pass on #12 green. 



6 days after aerification.



9 days after aerification.