While we were not able to aerify all the greens on August 27, we did aerify #12 green and the practice putting green. As of today, 90% of the holes on these greens are completely grown over. This is one of the reasons to aerify greens during this time of year. The greens are back in good condition in 10-14 days. In preparation for the August aerification we fertilized the greens and took out the growth regulator that is used to slow down the greens growth. This is why you are seeing "greener" greens and slower speeds. This will wear off next week and bring the greens back to normal.
I have also heard the comment on the greens being soft and why we are watering the greens. We have not put irrigation on the greens since we aerified. We received an inch of rain that day and we have had more rain since then. These greens stay wet for an extended period of time after a rain, that is why they are soft. It is not from irrigation. We are trying to manage our organic matter content in the greens and incorporate more sand into the profile. This will firm up the greens after rains. We have fallen behind in this matter over the years and we need to catch up. This is the reason why we are aerifying greens 3 times a year. In order to maintain the greens according to member expectations we need to aerify. In the long run it will pay off with firmer and faster greens during the year.
