Our process for greens aerification.

1. Flint Hills National Golf Club
Aerification 2013

2. Introduction
• Every fall and spring we core aerify our greens.
• The benefits we gain from aerifying greens are
very important for the plant health and
playability throughout the entire season.
• In this presentation, you will learn what
aerification is, why we do it, and all the steps
taken during our aerification process.

3. What is Aerification?
• Aerification is a process that relieves soil
compaction, maintains proper soil mixture,
and removes unwanted thatch accumulation.
• When we Aerify at Flint Hills, we pull ⅝ inch
cores three inches long out of our greens.

4. Why do we Aerify?
• We aerify because it is an
important cultural management
practice to maintain firm playing
conditions year round.
• If we did not aerify, the greens
would not survive the summer
heat and playing conditions
would suffer.
• Overall, relieving
compaction, maintaining proper
soil mixture throughout the root
zone, and removing unwanted
thatch accumulation are all
important reasons why we
aerify our greens.

5. 1st Step: Fertilization
• 1st step- We fertilize
7-14 days before
aerifying.
• Fertilizing helps give
turf the strength
needed to survive and
recover from
aerification.

6. 2nd Step: Aerifing
• 2nd step- 7-10 days
after fertilizing we
start aerifying.
• This process takes
two full days.

7. 3rd Step: Core Cleanup
• Cleaning up the cores is a
labor intensive, time
consuming job.
• Cores are blown into rows
with backpack blowers or
pushed off the green with
special rakes. Next, rows are
shoveled into carts and hauled
away.
• Once the cores are picked
up, backpack blowers are used
again to blow off any excess
material left on the green and
re-open any closed holes.

8. 4th Step: Topdressing
• Topdressing is when
we spread sand across
the entire green to fill
in aerification holes.
• This helps replace
unwanted organic
matter and thatch with
better material
essential for healthier
root zones for
maintaining firm
playing surfaces.

9. Step 5: Rolling
• After topdressing, we
roll the green to help
work sand into
aerification holes and
smooth out the
bumpy/uneven surface.
• Rolling the greens on a
daily basis will continue
for a week, or until the
playing surface
becomes smooth again.

10. Step 6: Spreading Soil Amendments
• Soil amendments are needed
after aerifying to help boost the
turf recovery and improve overall
turf health.
• We normally spread 3-4 different
types of soil amendments to give
the turf energy needed for a fast
recovery.

11. Step 7: Dragging
• Drag mats are pulled behind carts to help work the
sand and soil amendments into the turf canopy while
moving the sand into aerification holes.

12. Step 8: Watering
• Watering anywhere
from ¼-½ inch is the last
step to aerifying.
• Watering enough after
aerification is essential
for good turf recovery.
• After aerifying, the root
zone is stunted;
therefore, needing
water to keep from
drying out.

13. Conclusion
• As you can see aerifying is a very important
process. This needs to be done to ensure
proper turf health and playability throughout
the entire year. Dealing with the rough playing
surface for a couple weeks is annoying;
however, it is essential for healthy turf and
good playing conditions.

14. Check out more pictures of Flint Hills
aerifying in the following slides!

22. The End