Aerifying Fairways

Another practice that is important for turfgrass growth is aerification. Puncturing holes into the ground as you see in the picture helps with root zone growth, air exchange, thatch accumulation and compaction. The cores that are pulled are 2.5 inches deep with a 5/8 inch diameter. We then pulverize the cores and blow the remaining remnants into the rough. We began the start of this process early last week and finished aerifying the back nine. We will continue to aerify the front nine until we finish the process.

Snow on the Bermuda

Last year we began treating our rough with a non-selective herbicide to help eliminate the ever growing bermudagrass. The herbicide has a specific active ingredient Topramezone, that helps prevent the plant from producing chlorophyll. You will see the results in the pictures below. Since the plant cannot produce chlorophyll the plant leaves turn white. We are continuing this practice this year in hopes to completely eradicate the bermudagrass. We will finish this program with two more applications and seed the areas as needed. Thanks for your patience.

Verti-cutting Fairways

As some of you may have noticed, the back nine fairways have several slits cutting into the ground. This is the result of verti-cutting. By verti-cutting we are helping the soil surface maintain a suitable thatch level. Throughout the year thatch builds up just below the surface of the grass. This thatch layer restricts root growth and water penetration, both of which are valuable assets when it comes to healthy turf. By verti-cutting, we are simply slicing through the top layer and removing some of the thatch. Once the thatch is removed from the soil we remove the thatch debris. You can see all of the build up we removed displayed in the first picture of #14 Fairway.  This practice allows for easy water penetration into
the subsurface and allow the roots to grow advantageously,
just like nature intended.