J
ust as the human heart
needs vigorous exercise to
work properly, grass on a
golf course also needs a good
workout.
That's where the aerification
process comes into play, a criti-
cally important part of golf
course agronomy and some-
thing that is done a little bit
differently at Chardonnay Golf
Club than many other courses.
Rather than setting aside
several consecutive days to
aerate greens, which often ne-
cessitates course closures or
periods when all the greens on
the course are bouncy and
bumpy, Chardonnay works on
one or two at a time through-
out the year. By doing it more
often, greens stay healthy and
the impact on golfers is practi-
cally negligible.
The biggest benefit to
golfers is consistency. Healthy
roots are needed to keep the
surface rolling true.
Chardonnay's method of
punching greens more often
means that the golf course
never has to shut down and
greens recover far more
quickly, virtually overnight.
"We aerify more often,
which means we don't have to
pull all the turf at the same
time," Golf Course Superin-
tendent Surinder Singh said.
"It's an ongoing process that
never truly stops, and that's
one of the main reasons our
greens stay so healthy year-
round and we always have a
surface that rolls right."
At any given time, one or
two greens are punched a day,
usually in the late afternoon
after the last group of golfers.
It takes about 20 minutes for
each green to be punched and
cleaned.
The continual process
means that by the next morn-
ing the greens are ready to go.
"This way is more organic
than the old-fashioned way of
closing the course down and
aerifying all the greens at
once," Singh said "And it
means the process does not
affect golfers."
pursuIT Of pErfEcTIOn
Chardonnay's unique method of aerification helps keep its greens healthier throughout the year
JUST THE FACTS
WHAT IS
AERIFICATION?
A
erification involves
punching greens –
basically inserting a thin-
diameter, long metal rod
into the turf in order to
loosen the soil beneath
the greens, which be-
come compacted by
golfers' footsteps.
"Each golfer takes
about 40 to 45
steps on
each green
every day,"
said Golf
Course Su-
perintendent
Surinder Singh. "Multiply
that by 144 golfers a day,
and it adds up in a hurry."
The more the green is
compacted, the harder
the roots have to work to
get oxygen. So you can
think of aerification as
grass-aerobics, reducing
the threat of roots basi-
cally strangling from a
lack of oxygen.
Chardonnay's aeration process keeps the greens rolling true.
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