Aerification Update #3

First and Foremost, a special thank you is in order for the membership for giving us the course today to finish up all the tasks needed to complete aerification.  The theme of the winter months has carried over into this week and has really hindered our productivity.  The combination of snow, rain and frost have added up to a full day (hour wise) of lost production.  Therefore, "thank you" for your understanding and patience on a practice that will pay dividends for a successful season.  Spring is right around the corner, with the 10 day forecast, we couldn't ask for better weather to aid in a speedy recovery.

Day 3 allowed us to finish up the cleaning of plugs and initial rolling of all greens.  Then, Assistant Max and I started amending all the greens with soil building products prior to topdressing for better incorporation into the soil.  Topdressing followed, although a nuisance for the mechanic, incorporating sand into the native soil greens here at Longue Vue is paramount to the success and playability of our putting surfaces.  Below are some pictures of the process:

 

                                                    Assistant Steve applying the sand

 

 

Utilizing our new material handler to load up the topdresser 

The finished product

 

 

The use of our new material handler was a life saver with topdressing for this aerfication.  With half the manpower needed and a lengthy frost delay, we were able complete 9 greens.  The same output produced in the past on a full day without frost.  Today, we will broom greens in a couple of different directions to move the sand into the holes. 

 

On a side note, today during frost we are firing up the irrigation system, a true sign that spring is here!