OT - Aerification Closures

[Carl Johnson]

What's reasonable, in your experience, for course closures for aerification?  Assume course is always closed to play on Monday, so aerification can begin then.  Greens only aerification - in addition to Monday, how many more days should the course be closed?
Same question, but assume both greens and fairways aerification?  We've gone from a history of getting the greens done in two days, to now, 4 or 5 days when the course is closed.  I know, I know, every situation is different, and how you combine the work on fairways and greens, or not, but are there any general principles.  Naturally, one wants as many play days as possible as well as a well-conditioned course.  I'm not saying it is easy.

[Kyle Harris]

What's reasonable, in your experience, for course closures for aerification?  Assume course is always closed to play on Monday, so aerification can begin then.  Greens only aerification - in addition to Monday, how many more days should the course be closed?
Same question, but assume both greens and fairways aerification?  We've gone from a history of getting the greens done in two days, to now, 4 or 5 days when the course is closed.  I know, I know, every situation is different, and how you combine the work on fairways and greens, or not, but are there any general principles.  Naturally, one wants as many play days as possible as well as a well-conditioned course.  I'm not saying it is easy.

However long it takes.

Snark aside, I'll ask a return question: How soon after completing the process are you happy to play on the surface? And if it takes too long to get there, how many more resources are you willing to spend to speed up the process?

[Andrew Harvie]

What's reasonable, in your experience, for course closures for aerification?  Assume course is always closed to play on Monday, so aerification can begin then.  Greens only aerification - in addition to Monday, how many more days should the course be closed?
Same question, but assume both greens and fairways aerification?  We've gone from a history of getting the greens done in two days, to now, 4 or 5 days when the course is closed.  I know, I know, every situation is different, and how you combine the work on fairways and greens, or not, but are there any general principles.  Naturally, one wants as many play days as possible as well as a well-conditioned course.  I'm not saying it is easy.

However long it takes.

Snark aside, I'll ask a return question: How soon after completing the process are you happy to play on the surface? And if it takes too long to get there, how many more resources are you willing to spend to speed up the process?

This. When I was a pro at St. George's, we used to close for two days early in my tenure there but the membership wanted the golf course open more, so they started to do a few holes at a time for like, four days in the past couple years. Wretched process, and nobody would play that week anyway.


I think closing for five days seems reasonable to me if it means better surfaces, but 3 is maybe a realistic goal with a BoD and a greens chair to worry about.

[Kyle Harris]

What's reasonable, in your experience, for course closures for aerification?  Assume course is always closed to play on Monday, so aerification can begin then.  Greens only aerification - in addition to Monday, how many more days should the course be closed?
Same question, but assume both greens and fairways aerification?  We've gone from a history of getting the greens done in two days, to now, 4 or 5 days when the course is closed.  I know, I know, every situation is different, and how you combine the work on fairways and greens, or not, but are there any general principles.  Naturally, one wants as many play days as possible as well as a well-conditioned course.  I'm not saying it is easy.

However long it takes.

Snark aside, I'll ask a return question: How soon after completing the process are you happy to play on the surface? And if it takes too long to get there, how many more resources are you willing to spend to speed up the process?

This. When I was a pro at St. George's, we used to close for two days early in my tenure there but the membership wanted the golf course open more, so they started to do a few holes at a time for like, four days in the past couple years. Wretched process, and nobody would play that week anyway.


I think closing for five days seems reasonable to me if it means better surfaces, but 3 is maybe a realistic goal with a BoD and a greens chair to worry about.

The problem with scheduling closures is the same problem we have with scheduling weather.

[A.G._Crockett]

What's reasonable, in your experience, for course closures for aerification?  Assume course is always closed to play on Monday, so aerification can begin then.  Greens only aerification - in addition to Monday, how many more days should the course be closed?
Same question, but assume both greens and fairways aerification?  We've gone from a history of getting the greens done in two days, to now, 4 or 5 days when the course is closed.  I know, I know, every situation is different, and how you combine the work on fairways and greens, or not, but are there any general principles.  Naturally, one wants as many play days as possible as well as a well-conditioned course.  I'm not saying it is easy.

I haven’t been a member anywhere that aerates greens and fairways at the same time. Different grasses, different process, and probably not enough guys on the crew or hours of daylight.


My current club closes for 4 days for greens aeration, including Monday when we’re closed anyway; the course reopens on Friday.  Fairway aeration is a three day closure, including Monday, and we do it in June.  Fwiw, we aerate the greens three times a year; March, June (small tine), and September (usually small tine).  If the superintendent is able to use enough sand, it just takes that long to do the job right.


We have Bent grass greens; I think courses with Bermuda hybrids in my area typically close for at least a week for greens aeration, and sometimes part of the next week as well.


Our superintendent is fantastic, and I view the closures as not only the price for having great playing conditions year round, but an opportunity to go play other places.  We have reciprocals with several other clubs, so road trips are common.

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