2020 Aeration Week

From February 24th through March 3rd, 2020, the KGC maintenance team completed its annual, golf-course aeration. Due to the leadership of Adam Sauls and Blake Heinz, our team was well-organized and diligent. In addition, Terry Kennedy and his team made certain that our equipment was operational and effective. Aside from our teams’ efforts, we were very blessed with the weather. Of the 9 days that we were closed, only 2 days were hampered by wet conditions. Considering the seasonality of late Feb/early March*, working 7 of 9 days with sunshine and wind was remarkable. And finally, it is never lost on us that we have unbelievable support from our club to perform this crucial agronomy practice.

*We chose these dates to lengthen our spring season. By aerating 4 weeks earlier than usual, we are optimistic that we will provide “season ready” golf course conditions by the 1st of April. 

I. Putting Greens 
Our 25 putting surfaces were top-dressed with a kiln-dried, sterilized sand. This sand compares favorably to our underlying profile, so the risk of layering is low. The sand was applied at a rate of 1400 lbs. per 1000 square feet. On an annual basis, per the USGA, this volume of sand constitutes 56% of the total sand required for optimal dilution. To achieve 56% of an annual need in one application is remarkable.

Following the top-dressing, the greens were deep tined to a depth of 7 to 8”. We deep tine to ensure that we fracture the soil past the depths of our traditional aerators. Aerating at the same depth can create a “pan” layer at that depth.

Following the deep tine process, each green was triple aerated with our Toro, walking-aerators. These aerators “punch” a solid hole that is 5/8” in diameter and to a depth of 2.5” to 3”. The spacing of each machine is set to produce a 1.5” x 1.5” grid.

Once the holes are punched, we sweep the sand in multiple directions until the sand has filled every hole on the surface. The result is an aerated surface with many new “veins” of fresh, aerated sand. Aside from the dilution of the existing organic layer, these “veins” promote vigorous rooting, gas exchange and mitigate seasonal compaction. 

II.         Fairways and Tees

The fairways and tees received a similar treatment. Prior to the application of our VSS, fairway, top-dressing sand, all surfaces were deep-tined to a depth of 6” using a 7/8” diameter tine. Once deep-tined, every surface received over 1400 lbs. of sand per 1000 square feet. In total, we spread nearly 2.5 million pounds of sand across 43 acres of fairways and tees!

Once the sand was spread, the fairways were solid-tined with 7/8” diameter tines to a depth of 3”. These tines were spaced on 2” centers and all surfaces were aerated 2 times at opposing angles. In total, because we chose to double aerate the fairways and tees, we effectively aerated over 80 acres of turf. And that figure does not include the 5 acres of putting surfaces that were triple aerated!

Once aerated in 2 directions, we used a 3-man team to sweep the sand in a way that every hole was filled. Sweeping the sand effectively is a long process that requires perfectly dry weather conditions. Our “sweep team” began the clean-up process on Thursday afternoon and swept sand for nearly 11 hours per day across 5 straight days. However, the finished product is gorgeous and our bent grass surfaces will love the porosity and dilution that we created through this process. 

III.        Aeration Summary

Aeration is designed to reduce organic matter, mitigate compaction, increase oxygen in the rootzone and promote healthy gas exchange. Historically, we have used core aeration because there is actual removal of material. However, by refining our bent grass fertility, the accumulation of new organic matter has decreased. And, since our soil profiles are already sand based, we began considering an approach wherein we use solid tines to create 2x to 3x as many channels and in lieu of core clean-up, using our resources to incorporate sand at levels never achieved. To test our assumptions, we analyzed the physical traits of our profile before and after 3 different aeration methods. Two of these methods utilized core aeration and the other method was the triple-solid tine approach. Looking at the data collected, we saw very similar results using the triple solid approach in comparison to the core aeration method(s). In fact, what we did discover with these tests was that we were able to “drill” more sand into the channels using solid tines only. Although we are very excited about the channels created and the overall look of our 2020 process, we will continue to evaluate the most effective aeration methods. We may adopt the solid tine approach over the long term, or we may “mix and match” solid and hollow tines… depending on how the turf performs. But, for 2020, we are excited about our programs and confident that we have laid a strong foundation for the upcoming season.

IV.        Other Projects

With 9 days of golf course closure, our team executed many other course improvement projects. Below is a small summary of those things completed during aeration week.

a     Roughs – All 37 acres of new fescue sod has been solid tined in 1 direction. This application is important because we are “punching” a hole through any potential layering that can occur when sod from one site is overlaid on soil from another site.

In addition to the solid tine application, all our new fescue was fertilized with a highly soluble form of Nitrogen. The grass received .6#’s of N per 1000 square feet with another scheduled application to be applied in 3 weeks.

Finally, all the new sod was over-seeded with a thermal Bluegrass (KBG) species. The rate we used should encourage the development of KBG but not “overwhelm” the existing Fescue species. This over-seed is in conjunction with our long-term renovation plan.

Aside from our newly renovated Fescue areas, we used this week to scour the entire rough and apply a seed/compost mixture to thin areas. This project went well as our team was able to walk each hole and thoroughly cover the entire rough.

b.    Bunkers – We were able to compact every bunker face on the property. In addition, we moved sand levels to ensure that every bunker has 2-3” of sand on the faces and 5-6” of sand in the bottoms. This should help our sand settle and reduce “fried egg” lies. Upon re-opening, we also returned to the “Aussie-Style” raking method. With this method, our faces are constantly rolled and not raked. This should also promote firmer faces with less chance for embedded golf balls.

c.     Irrigation – We continued our spring irrigation audit. We were able to fix numerous, small leaks, replace a mainline valve and perform preventative maintenance on our pump station.

V.         Summary

Between our staff and Mother Nature, our 2020 spring aeration was one of our most efficient and productive. We are pleased with what was accomplished and are very excited about the early start to the 2020 golf season. So long as March gives us reasonable temperatures, we are prepped to have outstanding golf by the 1^st of April. Again, we thank our General Manager, Board of Directors and membership for the patience and support to care for the golf course.