The golf courses will not open until Saturday. Most of the snow is gone, but it is still very wet out on the courses. The staff is busy cleaning the property for golf and setting up for weekend play. The turf is breaking dormancy and requires additional sweeping to allow for better growth.
This year we are pulling a deep core approximately 8 inches. It helps us to remove some of the poor native soils. It also gives way to incorporate topdressing sand that allows for better water percolation, nutrient availability, oxygen and root growth. Opening holes will help increase soil temperatures and stimulate microbial activity.
Aerification was delayed on the Pfluger because of the snowfall last weekend. Today we began punching and we are on schedule to complete the 9-hole course by tomorrow. We will be back on schedule for Monday and Tuesday as the Maxwell greens will be aerified then.
Last season we began with 2 inch roots on putting greens. As you can see above we are now seeing up to 5 inch roots and a healthy stand of bentgrass on most of our putting greens. Opening deep channels allows for the bentgrass to become far more competitive against poa annua with a healthy root system. Deep roots allow us to water more infrequent. Poa likes more frequent irrigation applications.
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