Fairway Aerification

Fairway aerification has been going very good this week and the weather, warm and sunny, has been very helpful.

First the fairway is mowed and the heads are marked with shaving cream.  Then the fairway is aerified with 3/4" hollow tines that pull a core.

The plugs are allowed to dry to the proper moisture level so we can break away the soil part without making mud, but yet they are not to hard so the soil drys to a bullet and will not break-up.  The goal is to return the soil to the turf canopy and fill some of the holes while the organic matter portion, the thatch at the surface, stays intact and can be removed.

Plugs being dragged

Then the organic matter portion is blown off into the rough.

From there the rough mower chews up the organic debris, and that is day 1.

This process is followed the next day with a final clean-up that would be taking a brush and brushing any plugs that might be stuck down from tire tracks and after they are fluffed to the surface then the fairway is blown off again.  Followed by a dry mow in the afternoon with a fairway mower to clean everything up.  This typically leaves the fairways very clean and ready for play.