I am winding down another busy Tuesday, but before I head home for dinner I want to get out a paragraph or two explaining what we did today, and why I feel it necessary to explain why we did it. All 18 fairways were aerified, which is a normal part of our summer program. We do this 3 times each summer, and when we aerify fairways they are double aerified. We run the machine up and down the fairway, and then run back and forth. This makes twice as many holes, and brings up twice the amount of thatch. Remember what I explained before - it is not the number of holes that determine healing time it is the size of the holes. Today we made medium sized holes which will heal quickly in the fast growing Celebration, but I digress.
The reason fairways were aerified today and not 2 weeks ago when we aerified greens is because of the timing of the Curfew treatment. All fairways were treated with Curfew on June eighth. A Curfew label restriction states that turf should not be aerified 1 week before and 1 week after treatment. This is because Curfew is a fumigant, and fresh aerification holes would allow the gas to escape before it had a chance to be effective on the nematodes and other pests we were targeting.
The fact that we aerified fairways 2 weeks after greens and tees aerification goes against one of my personal standards and philosophies. I have mentioned in the past that I like to do as many of the disruptive cultural practices during the 3 course closures we have scheduled. This does not draw out the agony of having the course in some state of renovation throughout the summer by concentrating these procedures during the closures. We have even brought in additional equipment in the past to accomplish this. Unfortunately the Curfew application made during our first course closure got in the way and wouldnt allow this, so we had to postpone the fairway aerification.
Before we leave tonight all fairways will have been aerified, dragged in, blown off, mowed, and fertilized. As I mentioned, the Celebration is a fast healer and we will be back in top shape soon. I appreciate your understanding as we work through our summer program. You will reap the benefits this winter!
Alan Bakos, CGCS
Director of Grounds
