Greens Aeration Day 1 Update

For the first time in a long time, the weather actually helped us with aeration.  Ideally we get firm ground, a cool morning, clear skies, a light breeze, and a sunny afternoon.  We got all of that today and it looks like more of the same tomorrow.  While the weather couldn't have been better, the glitches with equipment got us off to a frustrating start.  A broken hydraulic pump on the greens roller, a blowout on a perfectly good topdresser tire, and an irrigation geyser from a broken sprinkler head all happened within 30 minutes of one another first thing this morning.  Mike and Jimmy got two of the three issues solved quickly.  We'll have to wait until next week to have the roller up again.  Of course it was only a few months out of warranty as Murphy's Law rules again. 

The contractors did a great job with the deep tine machines and completed all 20 greens by 11:30.  Our machine is much slower and it wrapped up 10 greens of core aeration around 2:00.  The guys running the aerator then jumped back to help with the clean up and topdressing.  We completed the front nine and both practice greens today at about 4:30pm.  I'm happy with the results and hope we can have another good day tomorrow. 

It should be noted that we would not have had the success we had today without the help of some dedicated students.  Ryan Bastianelli, Will Wonsik, John Gordon, and Tyler Evans all chose to spend their spring break with us instead of at the beach.  Max Radel had a day off at Mary Washington so he pitched in as well.  These guys made a huge difference and I can't thank them enough. 

Step 1

The roller about 15 minutes before the hydraulic pump broke

The broken greens head on 6

Andrew and Shane making a mess

Trevor, John, Ginny, and Max cleaning up mess

Impromptu irrigation project

Mike using with a modified blower to help get sand moved into holes.  Thanks to
other superintendents for sharing this on twitter.  It's a great tool.

Another brush following the blower

Bean inspecting the end result on one

It's ugly, but I think it will recover quickly.  The greens needed this day in the worst way.