Understanding Aerification

It's a perfect, sunny morning and you've just reached the first green in regulation. You feel great and you know you're within birdie range. Then, you see them, those little holes in the green. Arrggh! They've just aerified the course, and it's going to ruin your round, right?

Well, maybe not. Consider the fact that PGA Tour legend Tom Watson shot a sizzling record 58 at his then-home course, Kansas City Country Club, just days after the greens had been aerified.
Consider also that aerification is merely a short-term disruption that has long-term benefits for golf courses. When you see them, remember that without those little holes, the greens would eventually die.

Preventative maintenance is an integral part of successful golf course management. Golfers view aerification as an inconvenience that takes the greens out of play for a day, pulling cores from the greens and leaving holes that can affect putting for many days before healing. To add insult to injury, aerification is best done in many part of the country during mid-summer, at the height of the playing season and when most greens are in prime condition.

But a golfer needs to understand how important aerification is to producing healthy turf.
Aerification (also known as aeration) achieves three important objectives. It relieves soil compaction, it provides a method to improve the soil mixture around the highest part of a green's roots and it reduces or prevents the accumulation of excess thatch.

Like so many things, the quality of a good putting green is more than skin deep. In fact, the condition of a green has a lot to do with what goes on below the surface. In order for grass to grow at 3/16-inch, it must have deep, healthy roots. Good roots demand oxygen. In good soil, they get the oxygen from tiny pockets of air trapped between soil and sand particles.

Over time, the traffic from golfers's feet (as well as mowing equipment) tends to compact the soil under the putting green - particularly when the soil contains a lot of clay. When soil becomes compacted, the air pockets on which the roots depend are crushed, and the roots are essentially left gasping for air. Without oxygen, the grass plants become weaker and will eventually wither and die.
Aerification is a mechanical process that creates more air space in the soil and promotes deeper rooting, thus helping the grass plants stay healthy. In most cases, it's done by removing half-inch cores (those plugs you sometimes see near a green or in fairways) from the compacted soil, allowing for an infusion of air and water that brings a resurgence of growth. The spaces are then filled with sand "topdressing" that helps the soil retain air space and makes it easier for roots to grow downward.

Older greens often are constructed of soils with significant amounts of silt, clay and fine organic particles that are prone to compaction. Filling aerification holes with sand improves drainage and resists compaction. The periodic introduction of sand to a green's top layer can, over time, avoid or postpone expensive rebuilding or renovation of greens.

Finally, growing of turf adds to a layer of organic matter on the surface. This layer, called thatch, is an accumulation of dead stems, leaves and roots. A little organic matter makes for a resilient green, but too much invites diseases and insects. Topdressing with sand can prevent thatch buildup, and aerification is one of the best ways to reduce an existing layer and prevent an excess of thatch from becoming established.

Other aerification techniques use machines with "tines"; or knives that simply poke holes through the soil profile. A new technique even uses ultra high-pressure water that's injected through the soil profile to create small holes that relieve some compaction but heal quickly.
There are many types of aerifying machines with different attachments that address different problems in the various stages of the life of a green. So the next time you're ready to scream when the aerifiers are brought on the course, remember that a little preventative maintenance produces the best greens over the long haul.

The bottom line is that aerification is a necessary practice. But before you curse the superintendent for ruining your day, just think of Tom Watson.

(Article Courtesy of GSAA)

Poa Annua (Annual Bluegrass)

The warm temperatures have pushed Poa into seed production much earlier than normal this year.  We are making applications of Plant Growth Regulators to help reduce the severity of the production.  Due to the extreme turf condition the last two years, the annual type of Poa has had ample opportunity to establish it's self in thin areas.  This annual type of Poa is the heaviest seed producer of the different biotypes that exist.  The production of seed for any plant uses up a tremendous amount stored energy.  For this reason it is beneficial to the health of the plant to suppress seed production if possible.  Poa that does go into seed often becomes discolored appearing a yellow or orangish like color from the stress.  Unfortunately we will not be able prevent all seed head production, only reduce it.

MSU Turf Weeds.net

Objections to annual bluegrass are most often related to seed production (which can happen in any month in moderate climates), surface interference, color and disease susceptibility.

Annual bluegrass is unique among weeds. There is probably no other weed that is so widely adapted to variations in mowing height, site conditions and cultural practices.

Annual bluegrass is the most common and widely distributed grassy weed in the world. It is mentioned as a weed in nearly every plant commodity.

Turfgrass management professionals, including golf course superintendents, sports field managers, sod producers, and lawncare operators, have spent years trying to eradicate annual bluegrass from their turf swards. Annual bluegrass (Poa) is one of the most invasive weeds in turfgrass stands. It is also one of the most difficult to control.

Efforts to find chemical controls for Poa have been thwarted by its diverse genetic make-up. Poa is officially described as a cool-season winter annual. Winter annuals are plants that germinate in late summer to early-fall, overwinter, and produce seed in the spring. Typical winter annuals die soon after seed production as daytime air temperatures increase.

Poa annua, although commonly referred to as annual bluegrass, is actually a diverse group of different biotypes with varying characteristics. Annual bluegrasses in warmer climates like the southern U.S., do indeed perform as a typical winter annuals. These "annual" bluegrasses are classified as Poa annua var. annua L. Timm. In the northern part of the U.S. and much of Canada there are biotypes that produce seed in the spring and then continue to grow as perennials. This somewhat peskier bluegrass is termed Poa annua var. reptans (Hauskn) Timm.

The fun doesn't stop there. Somewhere between true bunch-type annual bluegrass and stoloniferous [perennial] annual bluegrass are hundreds if not thousands of different biotypes.

Clearly, identifying controls that have excellent activity on annua, reptans, and everything in-between has been difficult for good reason. These biotypes are not just segregated by climatic region or area of the country. It is possible, in-fact likely, to have several biotypes of Poa on the same property. The segregation is not only determined by climatic zone, but also by management and cultural conditions such as irrigation, mowing height, and compaction.

Poa populations are so diverse that they can easily adapt to everything from unirrigated roughs to closely maintained putting greens. This diversity makes Poa a bit of a moving target. Predictable Poa control would likely exist if 100 percent of the Poa population was truly annual.

Bunker Drainage Work - 17

 This fairway bunker on the right hand side of 17 used to drain directly into fairway. This would leave the fairway wet for an extendend period of time after a heavy rain.  While many of the bunkers here have drainage issues and hold water after heavy rains, we decided to tackle this one because it was having a negative effect on the fairway turf.

We located the exit drain next to the bunker and then installed 4" solid wall drainge pipe across the fairway.  The trench was then backfilled, tamped and sodded back to the origonal turf.

David Feherty - Golf Industry Show

This past week, I had the opportunity to attend the Golf Industry Show which is held once a year in February. The show starts off by offering hundreds of educational seminars that superintendents can choose from and finishes up with a two day trade show that brings venders and superintendent together from all over the country. This year's keynote speaker, David Feherty a long time favorite of Golf Course Superintendents stole the show.
David Feherty from GCSAA TV on Vimeo.