Aerifying Bermuda Fairways Cancel The title field is required!

1. Jeffrey Sexton

   

   0 posts
   
   12/1/2011 5:12 PM

   My club has always aerified their fairways with an old pull type aerifier that ends up going down in the ground about 2 in. and punches a hole every 8-10in. When I took the job a year ago August, I felt this aerification process was a waste of time and money. I would like to get my club to have a company come in an punch a 3/4 in. hole, 4 in. deep, 4 in. apart. We have a history of goosegrass in our fairways. They tend to be thin and the plants are flat. I used a 200 lb. rate of Regal Star II in the spring and it did a great job controlling the goose my first summer on the job. We have vamont bermuda. Does everyone agree that aerifying the fairways will begin to improve the vigor of the bermuda? Does anyone feel that I will set myself up for a huge goosegrass outbreak if I aerify after applying a product containing ronstar?
   
   
   Jeff Sexton
   Henderson Country Club
   Henderson, KY

   
   
   
   
2. Andy Jorgensen

   

   1 posts
   
   12/2/2011 6:12 AM

   We run a Toro Pro Core 1298 on our fairways twice a year pulling a 3/4" core, 4-5" deep on a 4"x4" spacing. Our first coring is typically a few weeks after we Ronstar. We do have some plants, but nothing that you couldn't handle spraying yourself with a 14-gallon sprayer. This is on a course that was built in 1982, infested with Goose as well, but has seen two applications of Ronstar every year for about 9 years now.

   
   
   
   
3. Cummings John C

   
   12/2/2011 6:12 PM

   shenandoah said: My club has always aerified their fairways with an old pull type aerifier that ends up going down in the ground about 2 in. and punches a hole every 8-10in. When I took the job a year ago August, I felt this aerification process was a waste of time and money. I would like to get my club to have a company come in an punch a 3/4 in. hole, 4 in. deep, 4 in. apart. We have a history of goosegrass in our fairways. They tend to be thin and the plants are flat. I used a 200 lb. rate of Regal Star II in the spring and it did a great job controlling the goose my first summer on the job. We have vamont bermuda. Does everyone agree that aerifying the fairways will begin to improve the vigor of the bermuda? Does anyone feel that I will set myself up for a huge goosegrass outbreak if I aerify after applying a product containing ronstar?
   
   
   Jeff Sexton
   Henderson Country Club
   Henderson, KY

   
   Jeff, I had VaMont fairways at Berry Hills CC in Charleston, WV. I was there for 22 years. I would aerify fairways just after the July 4th holiday (we found play dropped off that following week due to the long holiday weekend). They would recover in less than a week. I used a GA-60. I didn't use Ronstar but used Barricade in the fall and pendimethalin in spring/early summer. Never had outbreak issues since the fairways recovered so quickly.
   
   BTW....I'm now at Lake Cumberland GC in Jamestown, KY.

   
   
   
   
4. Keith Fellenstein

   

   0 posts
   
   12/5/2011 10:12 AM

   If you don't have a thatch issue and aren't trying to incorporate soil amendments consider slicing, aerway, soil reliever, or verti-drain like application to relieve compaction instead of or in addition to core aerification.
   Used to pull cores twice a year on my Vamont, 3/4" on 2x3 spacing 2-4" deep mid June and late July without weed problems (sprayed pendimethlin in the spring). Now that thatch is under control we kept the early date but usually just slice or aerway with the shatter tines and pull cores on a much wider spacing once in July.

   
   
   
   
5. Mark Vaughn

   

   0 posts
   
   12/14/2011 9:12 AM

   We use JD1500's on our fairways with 3/4 coring tines. Brings up a lot of material. For 30 years, we always aerified during the growing/busy season, and fought golfers, heat, and dust to try and get them cleaned up. Even after cleanup we still managed to dull our reels up pretty good. Last year we decided to aerify in late March/early April, which in our area is several weeks before we would be mowing but after our spring cleanup/preemerge spray. Best move we ever made. Our staff has the time to do it then, plugs bust up better on dormant turf, and what debris is left is long gone before you put those freshly ground reels on your fairways. No complaints from golfers, staff, or mechanic. I guess you can teach an old dog new tricks.
   
   Mark Vaughn
   Goodyear Golf Club
   Danville, Va

   
   
   
   
6. Cummings John C

   
   12/14/2011 7:12 PM

   tincup said: We use JD1500's on our fairways with 3/4 coring tines. Brings up a lot of material. For 30 years, we always aerified during the growing/busy season, and fought golfers, heat, and dust to try and get them cleaned up. Even after cleanup we still managed to dull our reels up pretty good. Last year we decided to aerify in late March/early April, which in our area is several weeks before we would be mowing but after our spring cleanup/preemerge spray. Best move we ever made. Our staff has the time to do it then, plugs bust up better on dormant turf, and what debris is left is long gone before you put those freshly ground reels on your fairways. No complaints from golfers, staff, or mechanic. I guess you can teach an old dog new tricks.
   
   Mark Vaughn
   Goodyear Golf Club
   Danville, Va

   
   Mark, Didn't you just stir up a seed bed of whatever? Didn't this break your preemergent barrier? When I used to spring aerify, I stirred up all kinds of stuff since the bermuda wasn't competitive enough to outgrow everything else that early.