2025 Fairway Aeration & Expansion of Our Santa Anna

In our previous Granite Bay Course Update we outlined our planned Santa Anna Hybrid Bermuda expansion and the steps we took to prepare areas for re-grassing with aeration cores. This past week beginning Monday July 7th we were closed for fairway aeration in which we utilized the extracted cores from the fairway aeration process for the re-grassing of the areas we prepared the preceding weeks. 

This was the first time we endeavored to expand hybrid bermuda in this fashion and we learned quite a bit from the experience. Below are pictures of the process for those who are interested.

Step one in fairway aeration is all sprinkler heads, valve boxes & yardage markers have to be flagged so aerifyer operators can lift and avoid these obstacles while aerifying. 

Second step for us is to aerate around these sprinkle heads creating a buffer zone for the following aerifyer.

Third step is we aerify up the fairway now that we can navigate around sprinkler heads easier having aerated around the sprinkler heads ahead of this aerator.

The fourth step is to collect cores and place them in the prepared areas that we described in our last course update. This is the step that we knew the least about going into expanding the Santa Anna. After some experimentation with other pieces of equipment and methods, we settled on careful removal of the extracted fairway cores using our front end loader to push, pick-up and move to the expansion areas. This was a relief as it is productive of a process as there is, and we ended up using substantially more cores then we initially thought. The areas stripped and prepared on #9 & #8 measured approximately 12,000 square feet and they took all of the cores generated on hole #8 & #9. We wanted to keep the cores intact for a better end result so using the loader turned out to be a BMP versus sweeping up the cores with our giant sweeper which would have broken these cores up.

Step five, move the cores to the prepared areas.

Step six was to rake the cores onto the prepared area.

Here is the finished product after raking.

Step seven after we have removed cores for re-grassing expanded areas we drag remaining cores for removal.

Step eight is to remove the cores with sweepers and blowers.

Step nine is to mow ahead of  sand topdressing

Step ten is to sand topdress the aerified fairways.

Sand topdressing is the process that is the most time consuming of all of the fairway aeration processes. This year in  31/2 days we moved 700 tons of sand, covering 30 acres of fairways, 4 yards at a time from three strategic locations

2024 picture of the topdressor working in front of #4 green.

The area above circled in green is another 2024 picture showing one 4 yard load spread out on #16 fairway. 

Enrique Reyes Hureta, the man, the myth, the legend, the one behind the spreading all of that sand in 3-1/2 days. We couldn't do it without him

The last step in the fairway aeration processes brushing in the sand. We brush all fairways twice during the process. 

What To Expect When You Return To The Club Saturday 7/14/25

When you return Saturday you will encounter freshly aerated fairways with open holes and remnants of topdressing sand. Open holes can dry the surface out so the fairways could be a bit wet in areas initially. There will be sand present so if you do not want to scratch you irons, you might consider a using older irons until the sand disperses.

Here is what the freshly aerified  fairways will look like from afar.

And a closer look you will see aerification holes which will be gone by the end of next week

You will also notice all of the areas that we put the aeration cores into having some temporary soaker sprinklers installed on the surface. The trick to getting these cores established is to keep them moist during the initial rooting stage and this temporary soaker irrigation will help us achieve just that. The re-grassed area doesn't look like much now, but by the end of next week we will see green grass getting started. By the end of July we hope to see substantial coverage over the area and by the end of August we hope to have full coverage.

More to come on our Santa Anna Expansion. Thanks as always for your support of our efforts on the course.

Fairway Aeration & Greens Spiking

We wanted to remind the membership of our upcoming Fairway Aeration and Topdressing that is rapidly approaching in July. More on the actual process as we get closer, but the main thing for you to remember is the golf course will be closed for an entire week. 

Golf Course Fairway Aeration 
Monday July 8th through Friday July 12th

Golf Course Closed

This past Monday we verticle mowed, spiked and topdressed all putting surfaces on the course sticking to our plan to do small non invasive cultural practices to the greens for as long as possible to keep disruption for the membership and keep poa annua invasion on our greens to a minimum. Below are pictures of the process for those who haven't see them before.

Step #1 - Vertical Mow the surfaces. Circular saw like blades positioned vertically on a shaft slightly penetrate the surface and remove grain and thin the leaf volume of the green. Less leaf volume equals less friction. Less friction equals better ball roll & speed. Theoretically. 

Good image of the verticle mower blades close up.

Another good image of the surface directly after the verticle mower went over the green.

Step #2 - Cleanup - All of that  removed leaf surface leaves a mess that we clean up with a mower and blowers. Mowing after verticle mowing also clips the lifted leaf blades of the verticle mowing process.

Step #3 - Deep Tine Spiking. We like to follow the verticle mowing process with spiking. The tines above are 5/16" in diameter and we spike to a depth of 7". Holes in the surface provide avenues for water and equally or more importantly, air to penetrate deep into the putting surfaces core. Air equals deeper roots. Deeper roots equals an healthier overall putting surface that can hold up to less frequent irrigation. Less frequent irrigation equals better ball roll and speed. Theoretically.

Good image of the spiking pattern. 5" X 3" pattern with holes that are 7" deep. 

Step #4 - Sand topdressing. Sand topdressing on putting surfaces is considered a BMP by all turf managers and academics throughout the industry. The amounts and type of sand topdressing vary but in general turf managers like to use sand that is not too course or too fine. We like to lightly and frequently topdress greens at an amount of 1.0 to 1.5 cubic foot of sand topdressing per application targeting a total of 25 to 35 cubic feet of topdressing sand per 1000 square feet per year. Above illustrates a application of 1.6 cubic foot per 1000 square feet.
 Light and Frequent Topdressing dilutes the organic matter that putting surfaces make that if allowed to become excessive can lead to some real problems that is easiest remedied by core aeration which we are trying to avoid at least for a few years. 

Step #5 - Brushing in the topdressing. This image is from earlier this season when we Dry-Jected the Putting Surfaces and applied more sand then what is depicted in step #4. It is the same process where we slowly brush the greens with soft brushes attached to a Greens Groomer Brush. Brushing works the sand topdressing into the small  spiking holes, the grooves that the verticle mower left and the turf canopy and is a primary contributor to the smoothness and firmness of a putting surface. 

Step #6 - Two days out  finished product. Day one after the above chronicled process we rolled and blew off remnants of sand with back pack blowers. Day two (today 5/30/24) we mowed and rolled and blew the greens again and above is the product you are putting on today. 

Above is a closeup. A little bit of visible sand and you can see the verticle mowing lines slightly. 

Above picture was taken Tuesday 5/28/24 down one Cygnet since Friday 5/24/24. On Wednesday 5/29/24 in the morning we were down to 5 Cygnets. Michele McCormick Granite Bay's own bird expert says a 50% survival rate is pretty typical. Lets keep our fingers crossed. 

Fairway Aeration & Seed Head

Our fairway turf conversion in 2021 from cool season turf to warm season hybrid bermuda included the choice of  Santa Anna Hybrid Bermuda as our warm season turf choice. If you recall, we chose Santa Anna because it held onto its color longer and came out of winter dormancy sooner then any of the other hybrids we were sampling. One of the knocks on Santa Anna though is its propensity to to produce seed head and the seed heads associated stalks. 

We can mitigate this seed head production with growth regulators, and were successful through June in doing so and honestly thought the applications we made were going to suffice all season. However we learned quickly it is a futile task  attempting to out smart nature, and almost overnight our fairways exploded with seed head. We all need to be reminded on occasion that the field that we play the game that we love on, is a living breathing complex organism that will do what it does despite our efforts at times and you just cant fool mother nature. 

The seed head  of hybrid bermuda is sterile. It wont even germinate or make another plant, its just unsightly, especially from afar. When your standing over the top of it the tan coloration is not that evident but from afar the fairways as a whole take on a tannish hue.  We have treated it with another application of growth regulator which will help mitigate the appearance in a short period of time we hope. Scheduled core aeration and sand topdressing will help as well.

From afar the hue of the accumulated seed head seems tan or yellow in color and looks like there is something wrong or the fairways are stressed out.

But when you are standing over your ball you see healthy turf and a pretty good lie in most instances.

Laying down you can really see up close what is going on. Some of the seed stalks, which are tan or yellow in color, are sticking up but many are lying down, and the accumulation of these are what gives us the overall tan appearance from afar. Pesky seed heads!

2023 Summer Fairway Aeration

Our scheduled fairway aeration is coming up in mid July. The golf course will never be completely closed as we will only work on nine holes at a time so there will always be nine holes available to our Members. Our plan this summer is to core aerate, drag the cores, mow then sand topdress, then drag the sand topdressing in. I'll provide plenty of pictures of the process when we get started. Below is a schedule of the work and associated closures.

Tuesday 7/18/23 - Thursday 7/20/23 B9 Closed for Aeration. F9 Open

Monday  7/24/23 - Wednesday 7/26/23 F9 Closed for Aeration. B9 Open

This is us aerifying #6 fairway in April of this year. We utilized solid tines that application. We will be pulling cores this coming application.

Swan Update

Nature is exacting and it was stated in a previously  linked bird fact article on swans "around 50% of cygnets fail to survive longer then 2 to 3 months." So far that statement is true for our new family of cygnets, as we started with six and now have three. 

Recent photo of the abbreviated family near ladies tee on #1.

Spring Fairway Topdressing 2023

As planned on Monday April 10th, 2023 we started aerating and sand topdressing the fairways at Granite Bay Golf Club. The plan was to aerate and topdress the front nine fairways the week of April 10th on a Monday and Tuesday and follow up with the same process on the back nine on Monday and Tuesday of the following week. On the Mondays the club would be closed and on the Tuesday's  we would alternate front nine and back closures so the process could be completed in a productive manner, as well as keeping Member disruption to a minimum. 

Below are pictures of the process in a somewhat sequential order for those who are interested. Additionally we have some pictures covering a deep tine aeration of the front nine greens we did while the front nine was closed. Don't worry, the process is very non-disruptive but extremely beneficial.

Step #1 is to flag the sprinkler heads, valve boxes & yardage markers. Colors of the flags mean something. White for a sprinkler head or yardage marker. Pink for a sprinkler head or valve box that needs raising or leveling and  red for a valve box. Flagging these items is essential because the aerifyer to follow will destroy them.

Step #2 - Aerify. We are punching solid holes that are 5/8" X 2"- 3" deep. The tufting around the holes is due primarily to the height of the Santa Anna  Hybrid early in the season. If you recall, it is a best management practice to raise the height of cut of the Santa Anna prior it going dormant in the winter. This allows for better winter play and protects the Santa Anna stand from wear and tear when it is not growing. This tufting will mow out and recover quickly as the weather starts to be more conducive to Hybrid Bermuda growth and recovery. 

Step #3 - Apply Topdressing Sand. This is the slow process. It takes time to move the strategically placed sand and spread onto the fairways. And it takes time and hopefully warm weather to dry that sand out so we can get it drug into aeration holes and the turf canopy. 

This is what #1 fairway looked like after we topdressed it. This represents 30 tons per acre. We switched sand this year to a washed tee sand that is substantially more consistent then what we used in 2022. It is also a little coarser which is agronomically better for Hybrid Bermuda as the finer sands will hold on to more moisture then necessary and this washed sand will drain better which will lead to a drier playing surface which is what we all want.

Step #4 - Dragging the Topdressing Sand. This is an end of the day process which really needs the sand to be dry in order to drag it into aeration holes and turf canopy. It is also a dusty process that should not be done in the presence of golfers. We use a keystone mat to drag in the topdressing and on subsequent days we use our turbine blowers to disperse the pockets of sand that accumulates here and there, and help push the sand into the turf canopy where it belongs. 

Another look at the dragging process with a better look at the keystone mat.

After an evening watering and mowing. 

Close-up after some irrigation and mowing. Subsequent blowing with our big turbine blowers, as obnoxious as they are, will help disperse and push the sand further into the turf canopy, but in a very short period of time with some warm weather the Santa Anna will fill  in and grow right through the sand. 

Remember the pink flags we spoke of earlier in step #1? Above depicts the work that was being done by multiple GCM workers doing during this aeration and topdressing process. This particular picture shows a large amount of sod removed and replaced after leveling a sprinkler head and the area surrounding the head. This work will go along way to "finishing" these fairways. We had over 100 pink flags on the F9.

Putting Surface Deep Tine Aeration

The re-building process we did to our greens in 2021 is referred to as "re-surfacing" not a complete re-build. We basically removed 4-6 inches of sod and sand, replaced that with a new greens mix sand, shaped and seeded into that. The remaining 6-8 inches of old sand remained. Rooting of the new bentgrass into this older sand / greens mix is positively impacted by the presence of air. That is what this deep tine aeration will do, provide columns of air in which the deep rooting bentgrass will go.

The benefits of deep rooting are multifaceted with the main one being we can deep water the greens more effectively creating a scenario where we dont have to irrigate them as frequently. Less frequent irrigation means a firmer surface. A firmer surface means a truer, faster surface that is not as prone to ball marks. All things that we are striving for.  Below are pictures of the process. 

Here is our Verti-Drain Deep Tine Aerator on the nursery green. This is the first time we have used this process on these young greens and we were very impressed with how the greens handled the procedure. There was no heaving of the surface requiring rolling afterwards and no damage to the greens.

When I mentioned above there was no damage to the greens, I say this because this is a violent machine that drives a coordinated series of steel spikes 7" into the green. The greens have to be in a firm state, and you have to have the right operator, but the risk reward can be huge in time. Deep roots equal great putting surfaces.

Here is the finished product. Holes that are spaced out 4" to a depth of 6" - 7". These holes are 1/8"-1/4" max in diameter and do not effect putting quality. We dident topdress the greens  afterwards this time but the process can be done with a light topdressing as well. 

2023 Spring Fairway Aeration & Topdressing & Drainage Update #9

Starting next week we will be aerifying and topdressing the new Santa Anna Hybrid Bermuda fairways here at GBGC. Last spring, when we conducted this process we did not do alternating back nine &  front nine closures as the membership had just recently started using the course after the 2021 renovation. During our planning processes for 2023 we changed that strategy, providing GCM some alternating closures during the season to conduct these necessary cultural practices. This allows GCM the time to properly and productively get this work done and not inconvenience the golfing membership while doing so.

We have two planned fairway topdressing's and associated cultural activities planned in 2023. The first of which is scheduled for the week of April 10th and the week of April 17th.  The second will be the week of  July 10th and the week of July 17th. Splitting front 9 and back nine operations gives us adequate time to properly complete the work and allows us to get 18 holes open by the end of both weeks so as not to inconvenience membership further. Below is a detailed schedule for the upcoming fairway aeration next week. Pictures and process details will be in the next course update for those who are interested.

This pile of FW topdressing sand represents 160 tons that will be spread on hole #'s 1, 2, 3 & 4. That will amount to 30 tons per acre which is about the maximum we can apply in one application. More details and pictures of actual progress coming next week. 

2023 Drainage Update #9

On Monday April 3rd, GCM started to address the chronic drainage issue on the right hand side of #2 fairway. Any of us who have been around for any length of time know that this area has always had a drainage problem, long before the renovation or turf conversion. The issue is the fairway slopes into a low drainage inlet that is in the afternoon shade of the oak trees. We dident address the shade issue at this time but did provide some additional drainage to get the water off of the fairway surface more rapidly. Pictures below of progress.

Above the crew took advantage of a closed Monday and dug out and installed almost 300' of surface drainage.

Much of the sod in the area needed to be replaced especially around the drainage inlet. Above Enrique and Liborio starting to lay new Santa Anna sod.

The drainage inlet  (DI) in the area, where all of the surface drains were tied into, needed to be raised slightly and soil around it removed and replaced with gravel which is a common practice when we tie in surface drainage to the DI. 

Not the final product, but the completed product after we dug and installed the drains and re-placed the sod  and sand topdressed. The final product awaits the Santa Annas continued awakening, filling in all the sod seams. 

On Thursday 4/6/23 we started addressing another bad drainage issue on the left hand side of #17 where the old sand trap resided, about 115 yards out. The area boasts another bad combo of a depressed water shedding drainage area that is associated with winter shade. This might be the last bit of drainage work we tackle for awhile as the season transitions into spring, and our labor resources are allocated to spring time duties. This is not the last area that needs drainage work, far from it, but we now must move on to more seasonal duties like the above mentioned fairway aeration and topdressing.

Enrique Huerta (right) & Liborio Quintana (left)  had allot of help, but spearheaded this winters seasons drainage work where we installed over 2000  feet of much needed surface drainage on this new golf course. They were much deserved Granite Bay Golf Club's  co-employees of the month in March.

Sunrise at GBGC on 4/6/23. Photo taken by GCM staff member Amanda Bergstrum.