Week of August 21st: Greens Aeration
- matthewbehl
- Aug 25, 2023
- 2 min read
The course was closed Tuesday and Wednesday of this week for greens aeration. All the greens, excluding the short game greens, were core aerated with a 1/2 inch tine at a 1.5 inch spacing. Removing cores and incorporating topdressing sand is an important method of reducing the buildup of organic matter/thatch in our greens. Reducing the thatch layer helps in a number of ways such as better water infiltration, firms the playing surface, and even reduces plant susceptibility to disease and pests. Aeration also opens the greens root zone up allowing access to air and nutrients along with reducing soil compaction from months worth of golf activity and course maintenance.
The crew was busy both days blowing these cores into piles before shoveling them into carts to be hauled away. After being cleared, the greens were coated with a heavy layer of topdressing sand that was then allowed to dry in the sun. The drag brush pictured above was utilized to help incorporate the sand into the unfilled core holes. Additional sand was added when necessary. Hand brooms were used by the crew to finish filling any left over unfilled holes. Excess sand was then blown off the greens surface leaving a lighter layer for the turf to grow through. Roughly 50 tons of sand were used during this aerification event. Nutrients were also incorporated into the greens during this process.
Below are pictures showing the 1st green at multiple different points in the process:
The ICC agronomy team has been getting some questions regarding what is our preferred practice for divot replacement. Whenever possible it is best to replace your divot with the physical turf pelt that was removed from your swing. Due to the soil makeup and turf types that make up Ipswich's fairways you will see faster recovery with retrieving and replacing the removed divots rather then simply filling the hole with the provided divot sand. The divot mix is still important to use when the above is not possible, but often times the sand/seed mix will result in a longer recovery time.
Today was the last day of two more of our seasonal workers, Zac Marron and Morgan Sullivan. Morgan will be starting another school year at Bryant University and Zac will be training for a position with Delta Airlines. We would like to thank both of them for the help this season. Morgan had prior golf course experience which made him a tremendous asset for us this year and Zac came a long way from when he first walked into the shop. Struggles with hiring in the early season resulted in our staff being comprised of a few more college students then we typically have in a given season. As they return to school we will be looking to hire some additional crew members to fill the gaps and help us finish out the season.
