But the Greens Were Just Getting Good

Yes, It's that time of year again. We have so much fun aerifying and topdressing the greens that we decided to aerify them twice this spring. Both times with 5/8"tines. We call these "medium" size tines, as opposed to small, 3/8" tines or large 3/4" tines. We will be aerifying the putting green and greens 1-18 on Monday, April 7th. We will be aerifying and topdressing the Par-3 Course greens on Wednesday, the 9th. We do the same process again, starting on Monday, April 21st. It may sound  crazy to aerify only two weeks apart but the idea behind aerifying is to open up holes so we can get sand down into the greens. By getting all that sand (150 tons) into the greens in April, we won't need to do it again for the rest of the year. Time to make plans for that month long trip to Europe!

 

 

Aerifyer on the right and picking up the plugs on the left

Fairway Aerification Time

 

Fall Fairway Aerification Schedule

Monday, October 7th: Fairways 2 and 3
Tuesday, October 8th: Fairways 16 and 17
Wednesday, October 9th: Fairways: 5 and 8
Tuesday, October 15th: Fairways 13 and 14
Wednesday, October 16th: Fairways 10 and 18
Friday, October 18th: Fairways: 4, 6, 7 and 11
Tuesday, October 22nd: Fairways 1 and 9
Wednesday, October 23rd: Fairways 12 and 15

Why Aerify The Greens Again?

Golfers are asking me why we are aerifying the greens again next Monday, May 13th. After all, we just aerified them last month. The answer is that the greens were too soft last year. Aerification and sand topdressing is one of my best tools for firming up the greens for the upcoming season. Firmer greens lead to greens that are smoother, healthier and more consistant than softer greens.
For more information on the advantages of greens aerification and topdressing, please click on the following link to the USGA web site: USGA VIDEO

Topdressing a Green With Sand

Click on Photo to Enlarge

Greens Aerification. One Week Later!

     It's been one week since we aerified the greens with 5/8" holes. Today we're mowing the greens for the first time. We're getting some sand in the baskets, but we will  mow daily, and should have all the excess sand picked up by Friday. Because we gave the greens extra fertilizer the past two weeks they are growing nicely and the holes are filling in quickly. Last week we actually verticut the greens twice. Once on Wednesday afternoon and again on Friday afternoon. This process pulled up some sand, but when the greens were dragged following the verticutting, the sand filled the holes up to the top.
 

Click Photo to Enlarge.

Course Closed for Greens Aerification

The 18-Hole Course will be closed Monday, April 22nd for aerification and topdressing of the greens . We will be making 5/8" holes and then topdressing with sand. We will do as many greens as possible on Monday. Any that we don't do will be done Wednesday, April 24th. Any greens that aren't completed when play gets to it on Wednesday will be played as a temporary green. The Par-3 Course will close at noon so the greens can be aerified and topdressed.
 

Click on Photo to Enlarge

2012 Fairway Aerification Schedule

Jorge Aerifying the First  Fairway

 

 

2012 Fairway Aerification Schedule

Tuesday, October 9th,  Holes: 2 and 3

Wednesday, October 10th, Holes: 16 and 17

Friday, October 12th, Holes: 5 and 8

Tuesday, October 16th, Holes: 13 and 14

Wednesday, October 17th, Holes: 9 and 10

Friday, October 19th, Holes: 12 and 15

Tuesday, October 23rd, Holes: 4,6,7 and 11

Wednesday, October 24th, Holes: 1 and 18

Monday, October 29th, Par-3 Course. (Closed all day)

 

Golf Course Maintenance Update

Proshop staff Steven Orosco and Shaheen Iqbal want to remind all Villages golfers about the upcoming greens aerification on Monday, September10th and greens soaking on Sunday night, September 16th.

There's a Fungus Among Us

What happened to the greens?
Although we  love rain, the return of winter rains right after we aerified and topdressed the greens
caused a pretty big disease outbreak. The outbreak was caused by the sand topdressing which kept the grass nice and wet for a week. And these particular fungi love cold wet conditions.There are actually two diseases; Pink Snow Mold are the little spots that have a pinkish color on the outside of the diseased area. The other disease is called Waitea Patch. These are the larger yellow rings. A fungicide that treats both diseases was applied on April 16th. We will be applying another chemical that controls both diseases this coming Monday to ensure total control..



Waitea Patch

Pink Snow Mold

Greens Aerification: Five Million Holes and 250,000 Pounds of Sand

Aerifying and Topdressing the Par-3 Course Greens

We will be aerifying the greens on April 9, 10 and 11. The Front-9 greens will be aerified and topdressed on Monday, the 9th, and the FRONT-9 WILL BE CLOSED. On Tuesday the 10th we will aerify and topdress the Back-9 greens and the 18-HOLE COURSE WILL BE CLOSED. On Wednesday, the 11th the Par-3 course greens will be aerified and topdressed, and the PAR-3 COURSE WILL BE CLOSED.

If you've always wondered what exactly happens during the aerification/topdressing process, come on down to the putting green on Monday the 9th at 8:30 for DEMO DAY 2012. You'll be able to see the entire process, including: drilling, the sand application, aerification, and dragging in of the sand. 

Fall Fairway Aerification Schedule

2011 Fairway Aerification Schedule

 Tuesday October 11, Fairways: 2 & 3

Wednesday October 12, Fairways: 16 & 17

Friday October 14, Fairways: 5 & 8

Wednesday October 19, Fairways: 13 & 14

Thursday October 20, Fairways: 9 & 10

Friday October 21, Fairways: 12 & 15

Tuesday October 25, Fairways: 4,6,7 & 11

Wednesday October 26, Fairways: 1 & 18

Friday October 28, Par-3 Course

Jorge Aerifiying the Sixth Fairway

USGA Report on the Greens, Part 7

                   

                        Aerifying Holes in Green

      This week we look at part 7 of USGA agronomist, Pat Gross’ December 2010 report on the greens at the Villages. This week Pat's report addresses the possible future rebuilding of the greens. 

DO THE GREENS NEED TO BE REBUILT? The greens are sustainable and appear to perform at an acceptable level throughout the year as long as conservative management programs for mowing, disease control, and the use of potable water for irrigation are implemented. Although the greens cannot be managed intensively to produce fast green speeds on a regular basis, the existing architecture and moderate green speed appear to be acceptable for most golfers. From an agronomic perspective, the greens are sustainable but not built for performance. As part of your long-range planning efforts, some consideration should be given to carefully evaluating the status of the subsurface drains in the greens and the potential that recycled water could someday be used for irrigating greens.

Greens Aerification April 11, 12 and 13.

Just a reminder that we will be aerifying the greens next Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Monday, April 11th: Aerifying front-9 greens. Front-9 will be CLOSED. Tuesday, April 12th: Aerifying Back-9 greens. 18 hole course will be CLOSED. Wednesday, April 13th: Aerifying Par-3 Course. Par-3 Course will be CLOSED.

Aerifying greens

Greens Aerification April 11, 12 and 13.

It's that time of year again. Just when the greens are getting good, we go and mess them up again. As much as golfers hate it when we aerify the greens, golf course superintendents dread it just as much.
What exactly are we trying to accomplish with all this unwanted work? Two things: First, by filling the aerification holes with sand, we are increasing the amount of oxygen in the soil, and turfgrass roots need oxygen to survive. Second, the more sand there is in the soil, the firmer the greens will be. And firm greens make for a smoother and more consistant putting surface.


First the greens are drilled. The soil is cleaned up...

and the last remaining soil is blown off.

Next, we topdress with sand and aerify again.

The greens are rolled to smooth out the holes.

And the last step is to drag the greens to fill all the holes with sand.

Fairway Aerification

A contractor came in and aerified the fairways on the 18-hole course on Monday. Because no 'plug' was removed with this process, no clean up was necessary. This process reduces compaction on the fairways caused by vehicle traffic. In the fall we will aerify, pulling plugs, that will need to be dragged and cleaned up.