Slicing the Golf Course, and Other News

We are taking advantage of the favorable growing weather, combined with the fact that we will be applying a wall to wall granular fertilizer next week, and sending out our slicer. This is the same implement that we use during the summer months to aerate fairways and roughs. The difference when we use it during fall and winter months is that we change from coring tines to slicing tines. The coring tines we use in the summer punch a hole in the ground and pull out a plug. This does a great job of relieving compaction and creating channels for water and air to move through the soil. The down side is that this is a disruptive process that takes a couple weeks to recover from. We can get similar results, without the disruption, in the fall and winter months by changing from coring tines to slicing tines.

This is what the course looks like following core aeration.

The slicer tines we are using now don't pull a plug - instead they cut through the soil.

This is how the course looks following slicing. It is a lot less disruptive than core aeration but we are still opening up channels that help with water and air movement. Aside from some bruising of the turf at the slices these treated areas will clean up nicely following mowing and have little to no effect on play. The fact that we are fertilizing next week makes this an ideal time to do this work since the slicing will allow the fertilizer to better reach the plant roots. The slicing in combination with the fertilizer application next week have us on track for success as we near our second season opening January first.

The fan installation at #17 is nearing completion. The fan has been mounted, the electrician is on site doing the wiring, and FPL is scheduled to install the meter next week. If all goes well we could have the fan running next week, and set the green on the road to recovery.


And some news from the shop......
On December 14th our Equipment Manager Wayne McDermott hosted a TESTA meeting at Stonebridge's maintenance facility. The Turf Equipment Service Technician's Association is comprised of local golf course technicians and vendors. They meet monthly at various venues to network, host speakers, and hold educational and training sessions. Wayne was proud to have them here to show off his shop and the equipment he cares for, and I welcomed them on behalf of Stonebridge. This was a great opportunity to highlight us as a first class operation!

TESTA members at their December meeting at Stonebridge.