Holes 16 & 17

Spring has arrived! There has been quite a few sun breaks throughout the week, as well as a couple of showers. So far this week, Sandpines has received less than a half inch of rain, which has come mostly at night. The grass growth started picking up a bit this week. The weather forecast is looking good, so come out and play some golf.

John aerating the clubhouse practice green

We were able to get quite a bit of mowing done this week thanks to the drier weather. The greens, collars, tees, approaches, fairways, and rough were all mowed. The greens were groomed a couple of times, and are rolling nicely. The practice greens were aerated with 1/4" tines on Thursday. The greens on the golf course will be aerated next week. The back nine greens will  be aerated on Monday, and front nine greens will be aerated on Tuesday. We will also be using 1/4" tines, and the holes will heal pretty quickly. All 18 holes will be open for play during both aeration days. Our starting times will be delayed both days so we can complete the process ahead of play. Using smaller tines is much less disruptive with regards to putting, but not nearly as beneficial as using large tines. Our greens have been handling all the water we have received over the past few months better than expected. Given the slow start to the golf season this year due to the lousy weather, we have made the choice to use the 1/4" tines in order to minimize the impact on play. We will perform this process again at the end of July in order to keep the greens in good condition throughout the growing season. In the fall, it will be imperative to use the larger tines again in order to keep our greens draining throughout the winter.

Look at the size of the aeration cores compared to the golf ball