Page 4 - June Newsletter

A MESSAGE FROM OUR GOLF

COURSE SUPERINTENDENT

STACY WALLACE

As you may know from the calendar, we will close the course June 11th

and a half day on the 12th to do our mid-season green aeration. Due to the

365-day growing season, organic matter control is optimally performed

three times a year. In the past, we have done the traditional core removal

aeration for the mid-season process. This year we are trying a sand

injection machine without removing cores. This is performed with

specialized equipment; therefore, it is contracted out necessitating the

need to close for efficiency. The benefits of this are two-fold:

· Inject new sand into the profile with high pressure water, which aerates

the soil.

· Benefits the golfer due to minimal surface disruption.

At the end of our fall aeration, we will assess the percentage of organic

matter in the playing surface to determine if this will be a viable process in

the future. We do this by sending profile samples to a laboratory to

measure the quantity of organic material.