Final Greens Aerification of the Year

Next Monday-Tuesday (8/23-8/24) we will undertake our final greens aerification on the Irving Park course.  

Aerification is an important cultural practice. Through aerification we; 1) extract excessive accumulation of organic material; 2) improve soil gas exchange; 3) stimulate new root development; 4) stimulate microbial activity; and 5) improve the plants ability to withstand biotic and abiotic stresses.

Having said that, there are still plenty of golfer skeptics! Aerification is one of the most despised cultural practices when it comes to the golfer as it disrupts the playing surface; is usually done during the prime playing seasons; and according to most golfers has no redeeming features other than to decrease green performance and raise one's golf score. On the other hand, aerification is likely the most important cultural practice that a turf manager can perform. Why? Simply put to maintain a root system under the target plant. The plant's response is to maintain density enabling it to tolerate traffic, and resist ball marking; maintain a deep effective root system to withstand limitations on water quantity and water quality; and to maintain healthy plant growth to tolerate biotic and abiotic stresses. 

Bermuda Versus Bent

The biggest difference is Bentgrass, being a cool season grass, grows best during the spring and fall months.  On the other hand, Bermuda is a warm season grass that grows best during the summer months.  Ideally we seek to annually achieve organic matter removal in the 15%-20% range of the total surface area for highly manicured surfaces such as golf course greens.  We also schedule aerification either during or just prior to ideal growing conditions to enable the plant to take full advantage of the process and to maximize recovery time.

Bermudagrass is a much tougher plant than Bentgrass and can withstand a much more aggressive aerification process than its Bentgrass counter part.  So with only one true growing season for Bermudagrass and it being a tougher plant we only schedule one aerification on the Bermuda where we aggressively verticut the entire surface multiple times over and then double aerify the green, effectively seeking to hit our goal of surface disruption (organic matter removal) all in one shot.  

Bentgrass is a somewhat more delicate plant with three completely different growing seasons.  Each time we aerify the Bentgrass we use a somewhat less aggressive level of surface disruption where the cumulative effect of our three aerifications adds up to the 15%-20% goal.

Total Full Recovery time following an aerification procedure:

Bermudagrass - 5 weeks

Bentgrass - 4 weeks x 3 = 12 weeks