Greens and fairway Aerification

The course will be closed this upcoming Monday and Tuesday for Aerification. We will pull cores out of fairways and begin the clean up process of over 36 acres. We will do a light verticut during the pulverizing of cores. Once the fairways are cleaned up we will begin topdressing approaches and landing areas with sand. This will help modify the soil, help reduce compaction, create firmer conditions, and lastly improve drainage. 

We will also begin Aerification of our greens on Monday morning. This year we will not be pulling cores but instead using a solid tines to produce the same size hole. We will topdressing with sand before we aerify, punch, and then drag sand into the holes. We will then come back with second topdressing to complete the process. 

The weather looks great so see everyone after Aerification. 

Aerification Update

We are unable to aerify greens again today.  We recieved over 2.25" of rain on Monday and today we are dealing with spotty showers for most of the day.  We will attempt to aerify starting tomorrow.  We will keep you posted on the progress and new golfing schedule.  Our fairway aerification is pushed back to October 11-12.  I wanted to post a great video that explains the benefits of aerification on a golf course.

Why do we aerate greens?

I still think there are a lot of questions out there on my we aerate a golf green.  I found this video that really explains the benefits of aeration and the reasons why we must aerate to have a successful putting surface.


I have also answered many questions on why our greens are so slow to heal after aeration.  There are two main reasons that our greens are slow to heal.  The first is the timing of aeration.  We have pushed aeration back until late September/ early October when the turfgrass plant has slowed day with top growth and is putting all of it's energy into root growth.  The second reason is the variety of grass on our greens.  Our greens ar 100% A-1 which is a slow grower and takes a long time to heal in aerification holes or ball marks.  These two combined produce slow healing after aerification.  We do our best to produce a great putting surface after aerification is complete.

Fall Aerification

We will begin Fall aerfication on Monday & Tuesday of next week. We will be aerifying both greens and fairways and hope to have both complete in two days weather depending. Aerfication is a crucial golf course management practice that needs to be done at least once throughout the year if not more. The new varieties of bentgrass such as the ones that we have at Sagamore produce large amounts of organic matter throughout the season.

Aerification 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 .100-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’ 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 ½-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. We also aerify to reduce compaction, enhance oxygen exchange, and help support a healthy root system.

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 matters 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.

Aerifiying Fairways

We have recently aerified #14, #15, #16, & #18 fairways with solid tines. This was done to help water penetrate the surface and help with dry areas that were forming. These fairways were not aerified last year due to weather and we are seeing the effects of not doing this practice already. Many people do not realize the importance of aerifying in the Fall but this is a prime example of what happens if this practice is not done. The ground becomes very compacted and will not allow water to penetrate into the root system. In turn, during dry spells stress occurs to the turfgrass plant and causes injury and possible death.

Why do we aerify greens?

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 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’ 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 ½-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 matters 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.