Notable Aerification: Part 2 Clean Up

Aerifying greens can be a messy job. Pulling all that organic matter out of a green leaves a mess of cores and plenty of work behind. Lets face it, there're multiple ways to skin a cat at this point. Some go out with teams of blowers and round up all the cores into small piles and then have another team clean them up. Sounds a little familiar.

This is the example of blowing the cores into 

piles and then having them removed

The first video demonstrated a slower process but, a less invasive one. The next video demonstrates probably the fastest way to clean up cores. Although not the least invasive way to get the job done, it is very quick. Using a mechanical harvester, the cleanup process per green takes 10 to 15 min.

Cleaning up cores using a mechanical harvester

The two videos above are compelling and are opposites of each other when considering the invasiveness of the core clean up process. This next video shows a cleanup process that is quick and minimally invasive to the greens. Although the process is labor intense, the greens are clear of cores once the aerifyer leaves the green.

A quick and clean core removal process

Shovel View

Notable Aerification: Part 1

Around this time in the South, courses are beginning their aerification practices. While many of the techniques very, the goal is the same.....remove organic matter. While searching for different practices, I found a video from Carlton Woods located Texas. This great video shows the aerification process on their fairways. Stay tuned for more videos of aerification techniques.

                                                    Carlton Woods 2010

Assistants and Interns

"Success is the result of perfection, hard work, learning from failure, loyalty, and persistence." -Colin Powell



The time is approaching in which students and golf courses are preparing for their summer internships. Students are finishing up those grueling last few weeks of school, and golf courses are awaiting the arrival of their eager help for the summer. For students, their focus is shifting to the summer, and the excitement to apply what they have learned in school to the real world.

Interns are an eager group, ready to learn new skills and techniques special to where they will be for the summer. As assistants, we will be working along side them, teaching them and training them how to apply what they have learned in school to our courses. Motivation is key for interns, communication and cooperation are equally important to maintain persistence in their performance.

Internships are a time for assistants to teach, lead, and influence. One superintendent told me during my internship, "I take you guys because, I believe in investing in the future".  Its important for assistants to remember that message when working with interns. Connections, are what make us more dynamic as assistants, no matter who that connection is.

For us assistants, remember your best internship, your best bosses, and the most influential moments that made you who you are today. Those are the people and times, that have defined your success.....share it.

The Weeks Before the Tournament

"If you are going to achieve excellence in big things, you develop the habit in little matters. Excellence is not an exception, it is a prevailing attitude." - Colin Powell


Every club has a few of those tournaments at their course that they want everything to look nice and be in tip top condition. Everybody on the maintenance staff feels this pressure and wants the same thing. What about the crew? Where does morale stand? Like any team you're only as strong as your weakest person. As an assistant if you haven't injected yourself into the crew the weeks before a tournament now is probably a great time to do so.

The crew employee is on the front line of making your goals and ideas become reality. Invest in those crew members just like you would a bank account and watch them grow. As you invest you gain interest and value in and from those individuals. As you work with different crew members their interest will grow, and so will their value for their own work. Pretty soon you have made your way around working with everybody on staff, and morale is boosted and self-value is insured in those employees. Your end product is a self-valued, motivated, synergetic team.