Almost Finished

Unfortunately, the rain came a little too early.  With five greens left on our fall greens aerification we were forced to shut down today due to the rain.  Although it doesn't look like we are going to get much, the moisture prevents the sand from filling the holes properly, leaving too much on the surface and not enough in the aerification hole.

Up until today this has been a smooth process.  Prior to deep tine aerifying the greens, we verticut the greens in two directions.  I'm always amazed at the amount of thatch and organic matter that comes off the green.   Following the verticutting, we interseeded the greens with bentgrass.  This is not typically part of our procedure due to the low survival rate of the seedlings.  Thought we'd give it a try this fall; any amount of success will only help the greens in the future.

Putting Green following aerification

Barring any unforeseen weather, we will finish up the remaining greens tomorrow.   At this point, we are planning on the first mowing for the front nine greens and the practice greens tomorrow.  Back nine greens will be mowed for the first time over the weekend.  Greens will be a little bumpy over the weekend, but should be back to normal late next week.