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Dan Herrmann

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Dethatching fairways
« on: October 13, 2009, 05:08:33 PM »
Our 6 year old club just did its first serious dethatching of all our fairways and tees.  It's a labor-intensive process and results in the "dreaded" striping effect located where the thach was removed.

We did it about 3 weeks ago, and WOW.   I thought the fairways were sweet before, but now they're just wonderful.  Lots of roll, tight lies, and much healthier to boot.

Does your course do dethatchng on a regular basis?  Do you feel that firm & fast and tight lies help bring about a course that's more akin to the designer's intent?

Or - do you like the "carpet" effect, where the ball sits up a little?

Curious, because right now they're playing like Bandon's fairways, and I've heard guys they didn't like the tight lies you find at Bandon.



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Kyle Harris

Re: Dethatching fairways
« Reply #1 on: October 13, 2009, 05:10:00 PM »
I find it a bit odd that thatch isn't dealt with little by little through the season...

I'm a bit ignorant of the options in the process though.
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Dan Herrmann

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Dethatching fairways
« Reply #2 on: October 13, 2009, 05:19:13 PM »
Kyle,
It is dealt with through the season, but this was an intensive process that included heavy dethatching and some aeration.

We aerate the fairways/tees every spring, but this was the first time for the heavy duty treatment.

When done, it looked a bit like what you see after a green was treated with a Graden.
« Last Edit: October 13, 2009, 05:21:14 PM by Dan Herrmann »
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Greg Chambers

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Dethatching fairways
« Reply #3 on: October 13, 2009, 06:13:58 PM »
Dan,

We do this at our course every other fall, in addition to the normal spring aerifications.  The clean-up is very difficult, which is the reason we only do it every other year.  If I had the budget, I'd to it twice a year and forget about pulling plugs.  The results are incredible.
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"It's good sportsmanship to not pick up lost golf balls while they are still rolling.”

GBoring

Re: Dethatching fairways
« Reply #4 on: October 13, 2009, 06:20:00 PM »
Dan,

We started last year using the fairway Gradens on our fairways in mid October.  We just finished doing it again this year however this time we went two direction.  Removed an enourmous amount of material.  Doing it this late in NE PA doesnt't allow ample time to recover however we are pretty good by the first of May.  We plan on applying a heavy sand topdressing as soon as we finish our new nine.  This has made a huge difference in our fairways in a very short period of time. 
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James Bennett

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Dethatching fairways
« Reply #5 on: October 14, 2009, 03:36:51 AM »
One of the local clubs did a massive job the last year, on old fairways that had had excessive growth for several years.  They removed 835 cubic metres of thatch!  Grange East in Adelaide Australia.

They are also implementing a more annual program.

James B
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Bob; its impossible to explain some of the clutter that gets recalled from the attic between my ears. .  (SL Solow)

Randy Thompson

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Dethatching fairways
« Reply #6 on: October 14, 2009, 08:49:57 AM »
Its an excellent practice and should be done minimum once a year and twice if you have bermuda..As good has it is, it can never replace aerifying...they are different cultural practices done for two different reasons.
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Dan Dingman

Re: Dethatching fairways
« Reply #7 on: October 14, 2009, 10:17:44 AM »
Dan,

It has been my experience that better players prefer a firmer golf course. Higher handicap golfers tend to prefer the "Carpet" as it is easier to get the ball up in the air.

DD
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