A Winter Blanket

One of the final steps in preparation for the upcoming winter has been done to the greens.  They all have been heavily topdressed with sand to provide some protection from the harsh winter environment.

This heavy sand layer will help in two ways, the first being physical protection and the second being insulating qualities. The sand will provide a physical barrier to foot traffic from animals such as Elk and Deer as they walk and run over the green surface. The second and most beneficial way the sand will help is to provide to insulation to the crown of the plant.

The crown in the turfgrass plant gives rise to the leaves, roots and all other stems; consequently the survival of the stem is critical for survival of the turfgrass plant. The crown is also the area in the plant which carbohydrates are stored which is necessary for growth of the plant. In essence the crown is the heart of the plant and everything must be done to protect it from the extremes found in our Colorado winters.

Changing It Up

Next week the golf course will be closed for three days to aerify greens, tees and fairways.  This year we are going to be changing up some of our techniques to help deal with the later than normal timing of aerification in addition to some key agronomic changes for the future.

We will be using 1/4" hollow tines on tees and fairways and 1/4" solid tines on greens.  These smaller tine sizes will help speed the recovery to the turf by reducing the size of area that needs to re-grow. This is critical due to the time of the year we are in as the turf begins to slow down and prepare itself for the upcoming winter.

The biggest change to our aerification approach will come in the way of topdressing fairways with sand instead of compost.  For the last eight years we have been applying compost to the fairways to help with our Bentgrass conversion in addition to restoring biological activity in the soil. The compost has done its job really well by restoring life to the soil and has created an environment in which the thatch is in an active state of degradation.  This process has left the surface a little softer than I would like so we will be embarking on a long term sand fairway topdressing program to help restore some surface firmness. Another key benefit will come in the form of improved surface drainage that will allow for more ball roll off the tee shots.

Combining the compost rich aeration cores that come up in the fairways with the sand will create a nicely blended material that will be mutually beneficial  and provide the best of both worlds for the fairways.

We will be applying more than 1000 tons of sand to the fairways which is a huge task in itself. Our biggest challenge will be getting the material around the golf course in an efficient manor and the only way this can be done will be utilizing the development roads. The sand topdressing process will unfortunately spill over the three days that we will be closed and carry into the following week to ultimately complete the process.

Over Due

Currently the greens are sorely in need of being topdressed. Throughout the season we have faithfully topdressed them every two weeks, but due to recent tournaments and holidays we will have missed the last two scheduled topdressings.

These missed applications have resulted in a visual and slight playability reduction in the greens surface. When looking at the surface of the greens it is not hard to find old ball marks that have not been repaired properly. These frequent topdressing help fill in these imperfections with sand and help maintain a smooth ball roll.

The next opportunity we will have to topdress will be on September 13th and at that time we will be applying the sand a little heavier than normal to try and make up for the missed applications.

Topdressing Approaches

We recently topdressed the approaches to help with the overall playability of the golf course. Nearly 25 tons of sand was applied to the approaches to help increase drainage and firmness.

The sand was applied evenly over the approach surfaces and then was aerified with solid times tines to minimize surface disruption. The sand was drug in and it naturally moved into the aerifier holes and other low pockets in the approaches. Over time as sand is repeatedly applied, a well draining firmer surface will be created therefore improving the overall playability of the approaches. 

Topdressing Applied

Solid Tine Aerified

The Final Product

Topdressing Greens

Today marks the first of our bi-weekly greens topdressing program that takes place throughout the growing season. Topdressing is the application of a light layer of sand to the putting greens surface.
There are many benefits associated with topdressing and they are as follows:

Smoothing of The Putting Surface
The light layer of sand fills any low lying imperfections on the green surface such as footprints, sod seams and ball marks.

Controlling Thatch
When the sand is blended with organic materials such as peat or compost microbial activity becomes enhanced creating an environment suitable for thatch digestion. The microbial populations will feed on the thatch layer and help reduce it over time, when frequent applications are made. Ideally the timing of the topdressing applications should match the thatch production of the plant, so that a homogenous blend of thatch and sand in produced.

Soil Modification
Frequent sand topdressing over time will build up a layer that allows water movement away from the surface creating a firmer playing surface. Combining topdressing along with aerification is an even better option for soil modification, by creating sand filled conduits for more rapid water movement into the soil profile.

Winter Protection
Heavier applications of topdressing materials to critical playing surfaces prior to winter will help serve as a protective layer. For me this is the preferred method of winter protection rather than using turf covers, which tend to be problematic. The sand application needs to be heavy enough to cover the crown of the plant, but not so to thick that it will smother the grass.

Green Speed Management
Topdressing is one of the most important tools that can be used to help achieve faster more consistent putting surfaces. As mentioned before the sand helps smooth the surface, which intern allows for a smoother ball roll creating a faster green speed. Additionally the sand application to the green surface raises the ball in the turf canopy and by doing so reduces the friction that takes place with the ball and putting surface. The end result is a truer surface which leads to an increase in green speed.


Appling The Sand To The Green

Dragging in The Sand
Mowing off Excess Sand