Aerifying The Rough

We started the recovery process for our rough this week with an aggressive core aeration. Turfgrass aeration is the dreaded but necessary process of punching a hole and sometimes extracting a core consisting of thatch and soil, thus providing passage ways for water and air to the soil and roots of the turf grass surface.  We are planning on core aerating all of the rough on the front nine this week and the back nine next week. Afterwards, the week of 9/26/22, we plan to start seeding the rough we just aerified. 

The process of core aerifying large turf areas like our rough involves using a large Toro Procore 1298 aerifier that penetrates down into the turf area and either punches a simple hole or extracts a core depending on the tine that is used and what we are trying to achieve. Typically core aeration is more aggressive procedure that has the added benefit of removing excessive organic matter from the soil profile. Core aeration for golf course turf requires a lot of clean-up as we need to process and remove the extracted cores which requires dry conditions to do so. Therefore, we typically aerify in the early AM and start cleaning up in the afternoon after some drying has taken place.  Pictures below will tell the story better than I can for those who are interested. 

Rough Aeration Schedule for Week of 9/12/22

Tuesday 9/13/22 - Holes 1-2     Back 9 Start

Wednesday 9/14/22 - Holes 4-5     Back 9 Start

Thursday 9/15/22 - Holes 8-9     Back 9 Start

Friday 9/16/22 - Holes 6-7     Back 9 Start

Since we will be working on the front nine this week, we will adopt a back nine start all week to give GCM a little extra time in the AM.

I mentioned in the previous course update that we would be adopting cart path only restrictions to the holes we were aerifying. Signs will be posted along cart paths and walnut shells as a reminder.

GCM core aerifying around flagged irrigation heads.

Core aerified rough awaiting some drying prior to removal with a sweeper.
Keeping these moist cores from getting smashed back into the turf prior
to removal is crucial and why we need the cart restrictions while we are
cleaning up the mess.

After the cores dry and we process them a bit by dragging or scarifying, we start to sweep them up. This can be a dusty, dirty process. 

So far so good with the entire process through Wednesday 9/14 as we have had no equipment issues or setbacks and have stayed on schedule. Assuming this momentum continues we will proceed with the below schedule for next week. Thanks for bearing with the process.

Rough Aeration Schedule for Week of 9/19/22

Tuesday 9/20/22 - Holes 10-11    Front 9 Start

Wednesday 9/21/22 - Holes 12-13    Front 9 Start

Thursday 9/22/22 - Holes 15-16     Front 9 Start

Friday 9/23/22 - Holes 17-18     Front 9 Start