Aerification Completed

It wasn't without some challenges from "Mother Nature" and equipment issues but we were able to get our greens aeration completed on Wednesday late afternoon.  We had some challenges getting started on Tuesday morning after we received about .5" of rain the night before.  This made the process take a little longer as we had to let things dry out a little bit before we could start and getting the sand dry enough to drag into the holes took some patience.  However it is done and we couldn't have timed it any better as we received another 1.75" of rain last night bringing our weekly total close to 2.25" of rainfall.  The rain last night really helped to settle the sand into the holes and as soon as course conditions dry out we will topdress the greens again to fill the holes back up that settled after the rain.  We finally got the new putting green aerified this week and our plan is to open the green this weekend.  It will once again be a bit slower then the other greens as we are going to take it slow on getting it down to the mowing height of the others and let it slowly adjust to the foot traffic and mower stress.  Today the ALL-STAR crew is busy trying to get the bunkers repaired after the storm last night.  Most of if not all of the bunkers took a hit last night and it will be a slow process getting them repaired.  Earlier in the week we were able to get our seeder back out and were able to get holes #10-16 seeded before the rains.  Any time you can get a nice rain on new seed it does wonders for your germination rate and extremely beneficial.  Obviously course conditions are very wet today and we are going to be unable to have the mowers out on the course.  This may cause the roughs to get a little tall and thick over the weekend.  However we will get them out as soon as conditions allow.  We were able to get the entire golf course mowed at least once if not twice in spots even with all the rain this week.  I have attached some pictures below showing the greens as they looked today and showing the damage to the bunkers after the big storm. Have a fabulous weekend and keep your coats handy as it looks like things are going to be pretty chilly over the next couple of days with lows in the middle 40s and highs in the upper 60s and low 70s.  Perfect weather for a turf manager!!

Aerification holes full of sand

Bunkers Washed Out!!