Thanks all for commenting. Some additional details seem to be in order.
very difficult to say as you give no meaningful information. What was wrong, where do you want to go and where are you now? Maybe the problem is a lack of definition in these points?
Jon
Jon,
Quantitatively, our greens still contain abundant thatch, on average 11% for the top tier of soil (4 inches). This has not really budged in 9 years. Mean infiltration rates are 2 in/hr, which is at the low end of acceptable, as I understand it. Importantly, our water to air porosity ratios have crept up to 3:1, whereas the goal would be 2:1 at bare minimum and closer to 1:1 in ideal circumstances. Our new practice putting green, for example has water to air porosity ratio of 1:1. As far as grasses, we seeded with bent in 2000 and now have significant poa infiltration throughout. We also installed XGD prior to commencing our soil testing in 2009.
Qualitatively, I'd say our greens feel soft except for a few weeks in the late spring and early summer where firm conditions can be found. But towards the end of the season, our greens get mushy, with large pitch marks, poa (and bent) die off and necessarily slower speeds.
I appreciate your question, "where do you want to go?" - indeed, that is the money question. Simply put, we want firmer greens that are more resistant to stress, can tolerate less water, and offer consistent performance for longer periods in our relatively short midwestern season. I guess we want it all.
Our consulting soil scientist claims that to truly transform greens, 35% soil displacement via aeration, top dressing etc is needed. This may require 4 aerations a year for 2-3 years. Is this 35% value an industry standard?
In short, we're trying to determine whether we should keep on working at improving our greens through displacement methodologies to get at thatch reduction, improved air porosity, faster infiltration rates and a more robust root zone mass, or whether we should, at this point, just build 'em.