Post Aerification: Q and A

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Q:  Why are our greens so bumpy and sandy?

#2 Green: 126 Holes per Square Foot

A:  As anyone who has played this week would tell you, the greens are not putting well.  This is due to the core aerification that took place last week as well as the heavy topdressing it takes to fill the holes with sand and to smooth out the surface for the golf season.  Please be patient with the greens.  This 2 - 3 week period of poor green conditions will pay large dividends this summer when greens are firm, dry and rolling smooth.  We perform this cultural practice in March in order to limit disturbance to peak periods of play.  If you are playing other golf courses that have not aerified their greens in the past week, the greens should be in better shape.  If these courses do not aerify this spring, their greens will greatly suffer this summer.

Q:  Why is the driving range green so much further along than the putting greens on 1-18?

Driving Range Green: 72 Holes/ft²

A:  Every spring and fall, we sample the physical characteristics of our putting greens in order to determine a number of things.  The main thing that we are looking at is the percent organic matter in our putting greens.  Too much organic matter means the greens are spongy, soft and prone to disease.  This situation would also lead to poor drainage and air movement.  One of the main benefits of aerification is the removal of this organic matter.  The ideal percentage of organic matter that we want to maintain is less than 4% but greater than 3%.  We are managing our greens right now in that range except for the driving range green.  That green is 2.66%.  This is due to the fact that the driving range green is the newest green on the property.  It takes time for the plant to slough off root and stem materials and develop this organic matter.  For this reason, we only aerified this green one time.  The holes on this green have already started to heal over and we should see great results over the next week and a half.

Q:  Why do we have so many weeds?

A:  This is a bad time of year for weed control.  Due to a very wet winter and early spring, we have seen a lot of annual weed germination.  We have pre-treated and post treated these weeds.  Hopefully you have seen the effects of the spray programs on holes like 9 and 12.  Unfortunately, we are in a very fragile stage for the Tifsport fairways.  The Tifsport is breaking dormancy and any herbicide applications could damage the turf.  We will manage the weeds and chemically treat the golf course as soon as possible.  This is an ugly time of year for the golf course.  While our bentgrass neighbors in the area are thriving and televised tournament golf is hitting its stride, we are breaking dormancy, dealing with weeds, and putting over bumpy, sandy greens.  Remember, every golf course has its own challenges and site specific issues.  We are doing everything in our power to deal with these issues now so that by opening day, the golf course will be in great shape.

Q:  Why is the staff doing so much bunker work?

A:  We are currently in the process of renovating 12 bunkers.  We are not changing the location or design of these bunkers, we are simply improving the construction and playability of these bunkers.  These 12 bunkers as well as the other 48 bunkers are being checked for the proper sand depth to insure consistent playability.  With the steep faces and intricate edges, the bunkers here at Willow Oaks are a constant maintenance challenge.  These improvements should prevent washouts during rain events and keep our sand clean and very playable.  We do our best to limit our large bunker projects to the winter and early spring months in order to minimize disruption during peak times of play.

Q: How do we know that aerification was successful?

A:   This picture is a vertical profile of one of our putting greens, Post-Aerification.  I took this profile of #2 green this morning.  You can clearly see the aerification holes were backfilled with sand and our process was a success.  You can also see a very defined sand layer between the turf and the thatch.  This proves that our topdressing program is successful.  This will lead to firmer greens.  You can also see excellent root growth.  Very exciting!

A1/A4 Creeping Bentgrass
Sand Layer from Topdressing: ~ 1/4 inch

Thatch Layer: ~ 1 inch
                                                               
Original Greens Mix

The aerification hole on the far left of the profile that is filled with sand will serve as a channel for the turf between the plant and the original greens mix.  This channel will allow water infiltration, gas exchange and root growth.





For more Q and A please visit our Frequently asked Questions page.