Sunday, August 11, 2013

Avila Greens Update

Having been aerified and fertilized at the beginning of the week, the new Champion greens are recovering quite well.  Shown below are some dated photos to show the progress, followed by current pictures of all of the greens.
#4 at planting 6/23/13
#4 @ 4 weeks on 7/21/13

#4 Today 8/11/13

#1 green 8/11/13
#2 green 8/11/13

#3 green 8/11/13
#4 green 8/11/13
#5 green 8/11/13
#6 green 8/11/13
#7 green 8/11/13
#8 green 8/11/13
#9 green 8/11/13
#10 green 8/11/13
#11 green 8/11/13
#12 green 8/11/13
#13 green 8/11/13
#14 green 8/11/13
#15 green 8/11/13
#16 green 8/11/13
#17 green 8/11/13
#18 green 8/11/13
Putting green at the clubhouse 8/11/13
Putting green at the first tee 8/11/13
Chipping green 8/11/13

The Aerification Process

  The past week at Avila was a rather busy one as we began using the Graden verti-cut unit on the fairways to help refine the playing surface, as well as aerifying and topdressing the greens.  The greens aerification was very successful at smoothing out the putting surfaces, and filling in any thin areas that still remain.  Completed on Tuesday, August 6th, the greens aerification is barely visible just 5 days later as you can see below.

The Graden on #6 Fairway
#6 Fairway before and after the Graden
Prior to Aerification the greens were mowed...
...and Topdressed

 
Following the topdressing, the greens were aerified with 3/8" tines at 2" x 2" spacing

 
Aerifying after the topdressing helps incorporate more sand into the greens profile
After the aerification, the greens were brushed to remove the plant material, refill the aerification holes, and to smooth out the putting surface.
Blowing off the plant material
Once the greens were brushed and blown off, they were rolled multiple times to create the truest possible putting surface

 

 
This image shows the surface of the greens following the aerification process