It is the time of the year when the Grounds department watches for a window of good weather to perform greens aeration. Hopefully, in the next two weeks we will get our opportunity. Our timing is often weeks ahead of other courses in the area, but there are reasons for the timing, and it has worked well for us in the past.
We maintain a “scheduled” aeration time on the Bretton Woods
yearly golf calendar, usually around the 3rd week of March. This is
our guaranteed time, meaning if all other plans fall through, this is when we
will for sure get access to the course. By this late in the spring, we are much
less likely to face severe frost delays or other weather-related delays. The
problem is, by this time, rounds are increasing rapidly, but more importantly,
we are well into our seed head suppression program.
So, we aim to aerate as early as we can in February, usually
around the 2nd or 3rd week. There are often some mild temperatures
mixed in to promote healing and give us our window to work. And the busy spring
golf season has not fully kicked off. Most importantly though, February
aeration provides at least two weeks buffer before we must start our seed head
control. Here are several past posts that paint the picture of our full spring
program: discussion regarding seed heads,
discussions about timing and reasoning here
and here.
Aerating early seems to be a win-win: the Grounds department
can time our practices in the best way possible for the turf and the disruption
to golfers is minimized by having less seed heads to deal with and avoiding aeration
in the middle of spring.
We will be resuming weekly posts starting in March. Thank
you
Etiquette Reminder of the Month
Please avoid walking through overly saturated or puddled
areas on greens if possible.
Also, as part of a Golf Committee initiative to improve
course etiquette, we have included links to videos teaching proper on course
etiquette. Please take a moment to watch:
Ball
Marks - How to properly repair
See you on the course!
Joe
jvillegas@bwrc.org
