Despite the record setting temperatures experienced over the past several weeks, the weather has cooperated and allowed us to successfully carry out all necessary cultural practices during our aerification closure.
Our final week of closure will consist of some final cultural practices, fertilization, and putting the golf course back together so it is ready for play upon reopening on July 31st.
Here is a breakdown of the major cultural practices that will have been completed upon reopening:
Greens - Verticut 4x, Aerified 2x, Topdressed 2x
Fairways and Approaches - Verticut 4x, Aerified 2x
Tees - Verticut 2x, Aerified 2x, Topdressed 1x
Rough - Aerified 2x
The most time-consuming part of the process is cleaning up after each of these practices. The cleanup process consists of numerous tractors, utility vehicles, sweepers, vacuums, brushes, mowers and blowers. This ensures the playing surface is as clean as possible for sufficient recovery.
Prior to reopening, the entire golf course will have been fertilized to encourage new growth and expedite the recovery process.
While the golf course was in excellent shape prior to our closure, it is vital that we carry out these major cultural practices each year. Aerification and verticutting both offer numerous agronomic benefits, such as compaction relief, thatch removal, improved air exchange, deeper rooting and enhanced nutrient and water uptake.
We are incredibly fortunate to have such a hard-working maintenance staff at Copperleaf. The team has endured extreme temperatures, late hours and a myriad of different tasks necessary for us to successfully complete all of our aerification practices.
Below are some pictures highlighting our work over the closure.
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| Prior to the greens being aerified, a layer of topdressing sand is applied to the surface. |
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| Once topdressed, greens were then aerified with 5/8" coring tines. The cores are collected in the rectangular box mounted behind the machine and dropped at the end of each pass, where a crew will remove and haul off the debris. |
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Once the greens have been aerified and cleaned, they are rolled and brushed in several directions to help incorporate sand into the channels created by the aerifier.
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| First mow on greens following both aerifications - Friday, July 21st. |
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| Fairways were verticut immediately after being aerified. They were verticut a total of 4 times during the closure. |
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| Our two VC60 Fairway verticutters are seen on hole #6 with the 1298 aerifier finishing in the background. |
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| Aerial view of our three vacuums cleaning debris on hole #4. |
