Greens Health Report
Every other year we send
undisturbed samples of our greens soil to the International Sports Turf Research
Center (ISTRC) for a "physical exam". The greens are built to very precise USGA
specs and, with age, just like a person's health, the physical characteristics
of the soil deteriorate. This aging process can be offset to a large degree
with aeration and other cultural practices much like diet and exercise can help
us stay healthy. The results of this test let us know if we are on the right
track and guides us on what, if anything, we need to do differently in order to
prolong the life of the green. If we ignore the warning signs from the ISTRC
report, then turf will become increasingly difficult to maintain and putting
quality will decline. Our cultural practices (aeration, topdressing,
verticutting, spiking) are planned using data from the ISTRC report. In other
words there is indeed a method to the madness. The link below contains a copy
of the most recent report. To skip the scientific stuff go to page 4 for a
summary.
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