Rough Aerification

Last week we began the long process of aerifiyng the rough.  Historically this has been a difficult task for us based on the older equipment utilized to previously do the work. The aerifier was an old pull behind unit that had poor spacing and produced plugs that were too large and were incredibly difficult to clean up. Crazy as it may sound we received more complaints from aerifing the rough than from aerifing greens.

One of our recent equipment purchases included a Toro 1298 Pro Core aerifier that is primarily used in  fairways , but we decided to take it out into the rough.  This machine produces a nice small core based on the tines that are selected. Additionally the spacing between tines is extremely tight, we are punching the rough with a 2" by 2" spacing which is normally something done in the fairways.  This spacing will do wonders to our heavily trafficed rough allowing for some oxygen exchange into the rootzone as well as compaction relief.

The tight spacing will result in 36 holes per square foot or when you do the math for the rough on the entire golf course that will be more than  101,930,400 cores  physically removed. The cleanup of these cores will be relatively easy by taking a steel drag mat over them which will break them up, or even just mowing the rough for the first time will  take care of most of them.



Close Up Of Rough On The Eight Hole