CORING OF THE GREENS/TEE BOXES - 7 March

It's that time of year when Wayne and his amazing team will soon core the greens and tee off areas. So only some very short term pain for golfers, unless you're Dean Osborne who grew up putting on the sandy greens around Dubbo and can't wait!

Committee Member and lawn care guru extrordinaire Adam Quayle (from Adam's Lawn and Property Care) explained more to me about the the upcoming coring and more....

Alright Ads, hit me - when is it happening?

Coring is scheduled (weather permitting) for Monday 7th March and is expected to be completed within a day. 

So what is coring and how is it done? 

Coring (or aerating) is a course maintenance technique that loosens the soil, opens up growing room for turf grass roots, as it helps air, moisture and nutrients get to the roots. 

A special machine (such as pictured below) removes small cores of soil, leaving a hole behind. Once the coring is completed around 20 tonnes of top dressing sand will be applied and spread evenly across the surfaces. This is to replace the removed material to help dilute thatch (more on that below), restore the surface levels, improve drainage and generally improve the overall quality of the roots and grass.

OK OK, that is the what and how - so WHY? 

With the high volume of traffic we have at Breakers, it causes the ground to become compacted. This means drainage is less efficient and the grass roots are prevented from absorbing oxygen. The coring therefore allows the compacted turf to expand and air and moisture to be more easily absorbed. The results, heathier grass and more putts in the hole.

You mentioned earlier about THATCH, what is that?

Thatch is a layer of grass stems, roots and debris that settle and accumulate over time just under the surface. A thin layer is ok, but too much thatch will hold water like a sponge and not allow it to penetrate down to the roots - meaning harder and unhealthy greens.

Brilliant Adam, thanks. Last question, how often do you cut the grass as your lawn looks so much better than mine? 

That's on a need to mow basis. 

Happy golfing.

Adamsky and Hutch