View from the cart path above 18 green

It has been quite a while since my last post. It was a beautiful summer with many warm (for the coast) days. It has been hard to justify spending time in the office writing a blog post. However, today it's raining, so I thought it would be a perfect time to let everyone know what the maintenance staff has been doing at Sandpines.

As always, we have been focused on providing the best possible playing conditions with the resources available for golf course maintenance. Therefore, the vast majority of our efforts are concentrated towards preparing the course for daily play by performing routine golf course maintenance.  In addition to routine golf course maintenance, we have been working on the items below since my last post.

Jerry venting 17 green

In late August, the greens were vented again. I really like the improved rooting we get from this process. It helps the turf remain healthy in between core aeration events. It also has minimal impact on play. I would have liked to vent the greens in September, but we weren't able to fit it in.

A green after venting and rolling

Also in August, the fairways were aerated with solid tines on our GA-60 aerator. There was basically no effect on play with this process.

The hydrophobic areas (dry spots) in the fairways have been more noticeable during the last 2 summers due to decreased use of wetting agents and longer stretches of dry weather throughout the year. In September, the hydrophobic areas in the fairways were aerated with solid tines on our Procore 648 aerator. The areas were then over seeded and top dressed with sand.

Jerry solid tine aerating fairway hydrophobic areas

These areas are starting to recover. The key to long term improvement will be the consistent use of wetting agents on the hydrophobic areas. Once the areas dry out, it is a real uphill battle trying to get them to recover during the summer. At that point, it is sort of like trying to growing grass on concrete.

Clinton over seeding hydrophobic areas

Greens aeration is coming up quickly. The practice greens were aerated on Monday. The greens aeration process is scheduled to be performed on the rest of the greens beginning this coming Sunday (October 19th) after morning play. The course will be closed on Monday (October 20th) and Tuesday (October 21st) in order to complete the process.

I am often asked why aeration is important. The video below does a good job answering that question. I encourage you to check it out.