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| Fall Aerification on Hole 12 at Crane Field GC |
It’s time to aerify the golf course! To have healthy, vigorous and durable turf most of the time one has to tolerate cultural practices that do temporarily affect the playability of the turf. Some of these very necessary cultural practices include aerification, topdressing, verti-cutting, over-seeding, scheduled mowing & irrigation, slicing, etc.
Golfers by and large
loathe this necessary cultural practice because it generally leads to
inconsistent putting surfaces on greens and/or cores and holes that interfere
with lies on the fairways and rough. Superintendents go to great lengths to reduce the impact aerification has on
the playability of the golf course.
Aerification benefits
overall turf health in many ways. The
following are a few of the benefits of turf aerification:
1. Reduces soil compaction.
2. Improves irrigation and
fertilizer efficacy.
3. Controls thatch.
4. Increases microbial activity
(thatch decomposition).
5. Smoothes out playing surfaces
over time.
6. Aids in gas exchange.
7. Promotes root mass and
development.
8. Prevents layering.
The aforementioned
benefits of aerification seem especially true in the
clay/loam soil conditions of Utah. Vast improvements in turf growing conditions can be witnessed with the implementation
of a consistent aerification program…vast improvements that overshadow the
temporary disruption to turf playability!
- Marlen Pinkelman
