Why We Aerify

This past week I spent time cutting new cups on the golf course and filling in the winter cups. The new season is upon us. 

Changing cups allows me to see how good our aerification process is each year. Golfers commonly view aerification as a disruption to the season as they wait until greens are back to top shape. From the agronomy side, these coming weeks are what make the successful golf season possible.

Pinehurst greens were constructed 60 years ago. Press Maxwell mounded up greens with native soil and capped them with sand. It was only 1 year later in 1960 that the USGA developed and published the USGA Method of putting green construction. 

"Notice the sand channels at the bottom of this 10" core. It speaks to many of the successes of aerification to improve the putting surface."

Maxwell designed the greens to surface drain, so rainfall or heavy irrigation cycles would run off the surface once the soil reached field capacity.

Since 1959, the desire for higher green speeds from golfers around the world has forced a change in agronomy practices. When mowing heights were lowered to achieve faster speeds, the soil and drainage below really needed further study. What we have found with research is that the surface will reflect what is going on down below in the soil. Healthy soil will always equal healthy turf, especially when under stress.

The most important process that we can perform each year on greens is to aerify and replace the old soil with new sand. Aerification only affects less than 2% of the surface, so this will continue to be an annual process. Aerification removes thatch and breaks up layering from the surface. Thatch is the organic build up near the surface that can prevent water and nutrient infiltration. Layering occurs from inconsistent sand topdressing and the lack of aerification in the past. 

We are seeing improvements each year with more deeper rooting, greater populations on bent grass on greens and firmer surfaces. Those sand channels noticed above are keys to achieving our goals and assist with creating a better surface above.

This week we begin with the Pfluger 9 hole course. Next week we will tackle the Maxwell Course. We flopped the process this year due to labor concerns, but in the end the heal time should not vary much from the past. Healing goes with the soil temperatures. In fact, the longer we wait to aerify the Maxwell course, the warmer the soils will get and the heal time is quicker. So in the end we minimize disruption to the surface.