Spring 2022 aerification is complete

 The course was closed on Monday and Tuesday this week so that we could do our spring aerification.  We pulled cores out of the greens four inches deep and a half inch wide.  Over 4 million plugs were pulled, cleaned from the green, and the holes were filled with sand.

    

I fully understand that golfers do not like when we "mess up" the greens with aerification.  I promise you that the maintenance team likes it even less.  It is an exhausting two days of work.  I personally ran the aerifier for all 18 greens this spring, my Garmin watch recorded over 25,000 steps and 18 flights of stairs each day.  I consider myself lucky that I didn't have to scoop any of the plugs.

The benefits of aerification greatly outnumber the negatives.  The process creates channels in the green for water and air to enter the root zone.  The sand helps to dilute the organic matter, firming and leveling the putting surface.  While this is a process loved by nobody, it is what is called a necessary evil, required to keep the greens healthy through the upcoming season.

This year we did our aerification two weeks ahead of our normal time.  We now need some warmer temperatures to wake the turf up and get them healed in.

A quick reminder for all of you that care for you own lawn; the deadline for spring pre-emerge weed control is April 15.