Huntsville Golf Club: Course Update

Beginning Sunday afternoon and ending Monday evening we aerified and topdressed all 18 of our greens. The greens were aerified using 3/8" hollow coring tines on 1 inch centers. After the plugs were cleared off the greens, sand was applied and worked into the open holes. Today fertilizer will be applied to get the grass growing. We will roll the greens daily to smooth and firm the surface and in a few days after the sand has settled into the canopy we will start mowing the greens. Because the growth of the grass tends to be a little slower in the spring, we like to use the smaller 3/8" tines to shorten the recovery time. The greens should be completely healed in about 2 weeks. Although aerification is despised by golfers and maintenance staff alike aerification remains an important cultural practice. Aerification removes unwanted thatch and allows good air exchange to the root system helping the turf to survive the stresses of summer.

The fifth green continues to recover nicely although it never seems to happen as fast as we would like. The cover definitely helped speed up the recovery process and allowed us to get the bentgrass seed to germinate. As temperatures continue to rise and the green recovers, the green will be available for limited play and eventually be open all the time. Looking at the green every day, it is sometimes hard to see the progress we have made. Here are some before and after photos that show how far the green has come in one month.