Aeration- The process and benefits

Before the playing surfaces can be groomed day-to-day for golfers, the soil the turf is grown in must support healthy turf and healing from wear and tear.
Every surface in this picture is aerated, including the green which will see atleast three treatments per year.

The green is aerated and the cores are allowed to dry for several hours. Generally, we use 1/2" tines @ 1.5" spacing. In the summer we deep tine with solid 3/8" tines which don't produce cores.

Several guys use snow shovels to scoop up all of the cores. In the past we used a mechanical core harvester; however, it created scuffs and rutts.

After the cores are scooped up, the green is blown off to remove any remaining debris.

With 5% of the turf surface now open, we take apply most of our yearly amendments. We use high calcium-lime and organic based fertilizer for the calcium content. Gypsum and polycoated potash are used for potassium.

This is high-cal lime. It offers 4 times more calcium than what you will normally find at a garden store.

#18 Green under a layer of topdressing sand. This is also allowed to dry for several hours before it is drug in using a mat made out of cocco leaves. The topdressing sand is a special size which is tested to make sure it is compatable with our native soil.

#1 Green after all of the amendments are applied, the sand is drug in, and it has been rolled to remove any imperfections.

This is an upclose look of a completed green.

This is our goal. 6" roots in mid-July will help us get through the dog days of summer.

This is the view from your golf ball. Without regualer aeration, it will be looking at humps and bumps. Plus without the air and amendments the turf itself won't be healthy enough to make it through the season.