2026 Fall Aerification Recap

Last week the team did an incredible job during aerification week. We accomplished a tremendous amount of work, even with temperatures reaching 95+ degrees almost every day. I thought I would share a little insight into what actually goes into the process. We started on the greens with a verticut, which removes matted thatch from just below the surface. We then pulled our aerification cores, creating 5/8” round holes spaced about 1” apart. Once the cores were pulled, the team shoveled and blew all of the material off the greens, piled it up and removed it. At the same time, we had two tractors working on the fairways, pulling 3/4” cores with the holes spaced about 2.5” apart. We then used mowers to mulch those cores, returning some of the soil back into the holes. We finished by blowing off the remaining tufts of grass left behind from the mulching process. Once the greens were completed, we moved onto the tee tops, using the same 5/8” cores and spacing as the greens. While we were finishing the tees, we heavily topdressed the greens and then dragged all of that sand into the surface to help backfill the holes. After completing the greens, we applied the same sand treatment to the tees. We also spread fertilizer and other amendments on both surfaces and began the watering process. This includes several short 3-minute cycles throughout the day, along with a heavier watering cycle at night. Once the tees were completed, we applied the same amendments and continued with the recovery process. By the weekend, the guys were tired, but they were still willing to put in the extra time to work on leveling bunkers through the weekend. That says a lot about this group. When Monday came around, we started topdressing the fairways and completed that work on Tuesday. Fairway topdressing also takes multiple passes with the drags to work the sand into the turf and holes. All said and done, between the greens, tees and fairways; everything was dragged approximately four times. There is a tremendous amount of labor that goes into getting this work completed, and most of it happens behind the scenes. As we progress through this week, we will begin slit seeding the fairways with ryegrass. This interseeding process will help fill in weak and thin areas that developed from the summer stress. We will also finish slit seeding the tee tops with ryegrass to keep them full and help fill in divots from the summer. If you're out playing and see my guys, give them a pat on the back. They truly showed up last week, worked hard in some pretty tough conditions, and I couldn't be prouder of them. Music: New Lands by Alex-Productions / alexproductionsmusic License: Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: https://links.al/Vqv Music promoted by Audio Library: https://links.al/youtube