We were scheduled to topdress both courses on Monday and Tuesday but the rainy weather of the winter makes it virtually impossible to drag in the sand. Our topdressing schedule is planned months in advance and while we will occasionally get a nice window to apply sand, that's not usually the case. We had a lot of luck this past season with opening up the greens and getting oxygen down into the root zone and felt like this would be an ideal time to use that concept, but during the winter. During the growing season we use 1/4 inch hollow tines and pull a core out of the greens, but, since wet sand doesn't clean-up well, we equipped our aerifiers with 1/4 inch solid tines, which don't pull a core. Besides the benefit of increasing gas exchange in the root zone, this process also aids in water percolation through the greens profile. We don't feel that playability was affected and overall we've been very pleased with the results. In the future, we will look to continue this practice when applicable.
In other news, the extremely wet conditions this week have prevented us from doing any mowing so we had some time to dive into a drain project. We tackled the fairway and approach area on #8 South from the left fairway bunker towards the green. I think that some of the best benefits from this drain line will be seen during the summer months. We will be able to put an adequate amount of water down to keep the area lush and green in the heat of the summer, yet still have a firm enough landing so that some of us shorter hitters have a chance of getting home in two. We'd like to hear any suggestions you might have on areas that could benefit from improved drainage so we can add them to our list and tackle the most problematic areas first. Have a great rest of the week and weekend!
We were scheduled to topdress both courses on Monday and Tuesday but the rainy weather of the winter makes it virtually impossible to drag in the sand. Our topdressing schedule is planned months in advance and while we will occasionally get a nice window to apply sand, that's not usually the case. We had a lot of luck this past season with opening up the greens and getting oxygen down into the root zone and felt like this would be an ideal time to use that concept, but during the winter. During the growing season we use 1/4 inch hollow tines and pull a core out of the greens, but, since wet sand doesn't clean-up well, we equipped our aerifiers with 1/4 inch solid tines, which don't pull a core. Besides the benefit of increasing gas exchange in the root zone, this process also aids in water percolation through the greens profile. We don't feel that playability was affected and overall we've been very pleased with the results. In the future, we will look to continue this practice when applicable. 
In other news, the extremely wet conditions this week have prevented us from doing any mowing so we had some time to dive into a drain project. We tackled the fairway and approach area on #8 South from the left fairway bunker towards the green. I think that some of the best benefits from this drain line will be seen during the summer months. We will be able to put an adequate amount of water down to keep the area lush and green in the heat of the summer, yet still have a firm enough landing so that some of us shorter hitters have a chance of getting home in two. We'd like to hear any suggestions you might have on areas that could benefit from improved drainage so we can add them to our list and tackle the most problematic areas first. Have a great rest of the week and weekend!
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