South Course Closure Weeks 4 & 5

The fourth and fifth weeks of the South Course closure brought the end of our maintenance practices, and the begginning of preparing the golf course for re-opening. We did have a couple practices to finish up, and they include aerification of the rough and pencil-tining of the greens.

Aerification of the rough helps provide relief from a season's worth of compaction from cart and machine traffic. The aerification helps provide water, air, and nutrients to the roots for improved plant growth. The picture below shows the #15 South after the rough had been aerified. The same machine that was used to aerify fairways is also used on the rough.

The pencil-tining of the greens involves using a solid-tine to poke small holes in the rootzone. This helped us smooth the greens out after both the aerification and verticutting that occured earlier in the closure. The holes from the process are very small, and that is where it received the name "pencil-tine." These holes will also serve as avenues for new root growth, oxygen exchange, and also help with water infiltration. Below are a couple pictures of this process.