The Hawk GC Greens Aeration Program

The Hawk Golf Course will be closed on Monday June 18th for the annual putting green aeration program.

Believe it or not, Turf Care staff are probably the only people who dislike the putting green aeration process more than golfers. It is a very difficult and onerous task that takes huge amounts of labour and is very stressful on all staff involved. If the weather does not cooperate and it rains during the aeration process (it always rains during greens aeration) the finished product can be less than the intended standard.

Of course, in reality, golfers do not dislike the aeration process but dislike putting on greens that have aeration holes in them for 10-14 days after the aeration process. One of our main goals during the greens aeration process is to minimize the time it takes for the aeration holes to heal over. The healing process is directly impacted by pre and post aeration fertilizer practices to encourage growth, the quality of the topdressing process to fill the holes with sand and weather. Staff have control of the the first two items but unfortunately not the weather. If warm sunny days that encourage turf recovery follow aeration the greens will heal quickly and if the weather is cool and wet the holes will stick around longer.

For a more in depth agronomic look at why putting green aeration is important please click on the following URL.


http://gsr.lib.msu.edu/article/bevard-putting-3-4-11.pdf

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