Greens Aeration, Grow-in and CGSA Fall Field Day

Greens aeration was completed on September 17. The process took just under two days to complete and went pretty smoothly. The aeration process consisted of aerating the greens first, then picking up all the cores we pulled from the aerator with our core harvester, then topdressing the greens with a fine sand, brushing the sand into the aeration holes, and then finally fertilizing the greens the next day to get the fertilizer directly into the soil.

14 green after being aerated

The aeration process aids in helping many things. It helps reduce compaction from foot and equipment traffic by pulling material and loosening up the rootzone. Pulling cores helps to remove the amount of thatch. Thatch is dead and decaying plant matter that forms a layer in the rootzone that can affect root depth and water infiltration if too thick. The holes allow for better air movement and water and fertilizer infiltration which are all very important in maintaining a healthy plant. Topdressing also allows us to add a more desirable material into our rootzone and reduces any layering that may occur over years of growth and fertility.

3 green right after topdressing and brushing

The grow-in of the flooded valley is also progressing nicely. We have now cut all greens and tees atleast once and will be cutting some fairway areas soon. The areas are continuing to fill in and thicken up very nicely, especially with the additional fertilizer and cutting the have received.

Forward tee on 7 after cutting

We are also in the process of switching out some old malfunctioning sprinkler heads with newer ones. This will obviously allow us to water in areas that we were not before because the heads were not working properly. These new sprinkler heads are also much more efficient than the old and we will hope to continue to replace our old heads with new as funds allow.

New sprinkler after installation

This past Sunday and Monday the 22nd and 23rd I had the opportunity to attend the 2013 Canadian Golf Superintendents Association annual Fall Field Day at the Wascana Country Club in Regina. This was a great opportunity as things like this are not in our province very often. It was great to network with fellow superintendents and learn from them and hear how they are doing things. It is also great to visit places like the Wascana that are known to be some of the best maintained courses in our province and see that we are in very similar condition to them for the most part and that all of our hard work must be paying off!

2013 Fall Field Day at Wascana Country Club

Our greens are still holding a lot of colour late

into the fall this year