is anyone only pulling cores on Bermuda greens in the summer Cancel The title field is required!

1. James Smith

   

   112 posts
   
   12/5/2017 1:12 PM

   Months?
   
   Due to spring and fall tournaments we have pushed our aerification dates back into May and September so far but with low membership and more outside tournaments wanting dates through May and starting in September it seems like I will only be able to pull cores June through the beginning of august and this is on Tif Eagle greens. it is extremely hard to turn down any business at this point so I am curious if anyone else is doing this months in their program and how their working out.

   
   
   
   
2. Andy Jorgensen

   

   1 posts
   
   12/6/2017 11:12 AM

   We occasionally have to do June, July and late August. In Florida.
   
   I don't think when matters as much as how much. Try doing a double-punch to hit the target number.

   
   
   
   
3. Christopher Flynn

   

   0 posts
   
   12/6/2017 6:12 PM

   Agree with Andy - understand what displacement you are trying to achieve. Don't worry about when the aerification occurs - just that it does occur. Secure dates in June & the August and any combination of single/double aerification will meet your annual needs.
   My program is;
   1/4" Core - Early May
   Double 1/2" Core - Late June
   Double 1/2" Core - Early August
   30% Displacement

   
   
   
   
4. James Smith

   

   112 posts
   
   12/8/2017 6:12 AM

   Guys, thanks a lot for the information. since we just purchased a new toro 648 last year I am able to do more hole than my old 48" soil reliever. Due to this I am trying to open up more tournament dates for the club to make money off of. seeing your schedule Christopher helps a lot. I have thrown around the 1/4" option to my club president already so that is out there. I did decide to push my aerification into June and we already have one scheduled for August but it is late in August and I might move it up a few weeks to give more time in September to book tournaments.
   
   May I ask you how you do your double aerification? My issue is labor I only have four guys working with me but last year we brought in 3 high school guys to shovel the plugs from our collars which made a big difference.
   
   I have 3 acres of greens and used 1-1/4 loads of sand for one aerification last year. can you give me a comparison as to how much more sand your greens required doing a double if you remember?

   
   
   
   
5. Anthony Nysse

   

   1 posts
   
   12/8/2017 7:12 AM

   James Smith said: Months?
   
   Due to spring and fall tournaments we have pushed our aerification dates back into May and September so far but with low membership and more outside tournaments wanting dates through May and starting in September it seems like I will only be able to pull cores June through the beginning of august and this is on Tif Eagle greens. it is extremely hard to turn down any business at this point so I am curious if anyone else is doing this months in their program and how their working out.

   
   
   We only pull in June and August. Big cores to exchange O2 longer.

   
   
   
   
6. James Schmid

   

   1 posts
   
   12/8/2017 2:12 PM

   we aerify May through August bermudagrass greens.

   
   
   
   
7. Jeff Lloyd

   

   0 posts
   
   12/13/2017 4:12 AM

   We double punch every time we go, usually with a 1/2 tine. We always topdress first then punch one direction blow and clean then punch again. If you don't have a turf pride core box I highly recommend it, because it will pay for itself in one go around. I think when I bought ours it was about $1,300, but with 3 guys cleaning they will be waiting on the pro core on each end of the green. Another thing that I have found is punch going down grain will speed up healing process and start to finish isn't any slower because all the plugs are on the same side of the green so the clean up guys are faster and works better with a small crew. I know it seems to be slower walking the pro core back around each pass but for me it is worth the extra walk. We punch late May or early June then mid August, then solid tine in between when needed. Hope this helps

   
   
   
   
8. Paul Hallock

   

   6 posts
   
   12/13/2017 12:12 PM

   When in Tucson, we only aerified greens in either June, July and August. Had 45 holes, so we had a rotation and some seasons did each course twice in one 3 month period.

   
   
   
   
9. Christopher Flynn

   

   0 posts
   
   12/16/2017 8:12 AM

   James,
   Here has been our typical Double Aerification Process:
   
   27 Holes (Close 9 holes for 1 week for each aerification)
   
   DAY 1
   Verticutt - backtrack
   Mow - Backtrack
   Topdress Heavy
   Core Aerify (1/2") - using Turfpride collection boxes
   Backback Blow off debris
   Roll 2X (Salsco w/brush)
   Water
   
   DAY 2
   Topdress Heavy
   Core Aerify (1/2") - using Turfpride collection boxes
   Backback Blow off debris
   Roll 2X (Salsco w/brush)
   Amendments
   Water
   
   I did some fooling around this year with going back to topdressing after aerifying. I do think it's more effective at getting the sand down into the holes after the green has been cleaned off. But not having to drive the topdresser on an aerified green is beneficial as well. TBD
   
   Your staffing levels may be restrictive as to how much you can accomplish in a day/week which may create the need for some creative scheduling.

   
   
   
   
10. James Smith

    

    112 posts
    
    12/27/2017 5:12 AM

    Christopher Flynn, CGCS said: James,
    Here has been our typical Double Aerification Process:
    
    27 Holes (Close 9 holes for 1 week for each aerification)
    
    DAY 1
    Verticutt - backtrack
    Mow - Backtrack
    Topdress Heavy
    Core Aerify (1/2") - using Turfpride collection boxes
    Backback Blow off debris
    Roll 2X (Salsco w/brush)
    Water
    
    DAY 2
    Topdress Heavy
    Core Aerify (1/2") - using Turfpride collection boxes
    Backback Blow off debris
    Roll 2X (Salsco w/brush)
    Amendments
    Water
    
    I did some fooling around this year with going back to topdressing after aerifying. I do think it's more effective at getting the sand down into the holes after the green has been cleaned off. But not having to drive the topdresser on an aerified green is beneficial as well. TBD
    
    Your staffing levels may be restrictive as to how much you can accomplish in a day/week which may create the need for some creative scheduling.

    
    
    I'm trying to figure out how to mount brushes on my Toro turf roller now that were into our slow time. I really hate using my greensmower to drag my greens after aerification.

    
    
    
    
11. Monty Ashworth

    

    0 posts
    
    1/4/2018 12:01 PM

    Jeff Lloyd said: We double punch every time we go, usually with a 1/2 tine. We always topdress first then punch one direction blow and clean then punch again. If you don't have a turf pride core box I highly recommend it, because it will pay for itself in one go around. I think when I bought ours it was about $1,300, but with 3 guys cleaning they will be waiting on the pro core on each end of the green. Another thing that I have found is punch going down grain will speed up healing process and start to finish isn't any slower because all the plugs are on the same side of the green so the clean up guys are faster and works better with a small crew. I know it seems to be slower walking the pro core back around each pass but for me it is worth the extra walk. We punch late May or early June then mid August, then solid tine in between when needed. Hope this helps

    
    
    
    I'm interested in doing this during our July aerification. What spacing are you using with the 1/2'' tines ?

    
    
    
    
12. Jeff Lloyd

    

    0 posts
    
    1/4/2018 8:01 PM

    Monty Ashworth said:

    Jeff Lloyd said: We double punch every time we go, usually with a 1/2 tine. We always topdress first then punch one direction blow and clean then punch again. If you don't have a turf pride core box I highly recommend it, because it will pay for itself in one go around. I think when I bought ours it was about $1,300, but with 3 guys cleaning they will be waiting on the pro core on each end of the green. Another thing that I have found is punch going down grain will speed up healing process and start to finish isn't any slower because all the plugs are on the same side of the green so the clean up guys are faster and works better with a small crew. I know it seems to be slower walking the pro core back around each pass but for me it is worth the extra walk. We punch late May or early June then mid August, then solid tine in between when needed. Hope this helps

    
    
    
    I'm interested in doing this during our July aerification. What spacing are you using with the 1/2'' tines ?

    
    
    We use the quad tine block that has 5 tines per block. So it works out 1.3 in side to side and 2.5 in forward spacing. We do that for speed mainly but if I have bad areas or bird baths we will go in 2. I also will go 5/8 tine sometimes on my first punch and go a little smaller on the second. What I noticed is you can go with a smaller tine and have a lot more holes that you can recover faster without having juice them up too much. We punched 20 days before a state am qualifier and had them over 12.5 and had some members that played in state am tell me our greens were better than the host course down the road that is private. Been doing this for 4 years and think it's a win win.