Aeration to Begin on Dogwood and Kingswood Courses

The POA’s golf maintenance crews will begin drill and fill aeration in March on the Dogwood and Kingswood Courses.

The machine enables crews to drill a 10-inch deep hole and simultaneously backfill with sand. The advantage to this process is that, with time, the green will begin to develop the capability to move water through the profile. The process will help increase oxygen in the root zone and eventually create healthier green surfaces.

“This is only part of our management plan, along with continued use of conventional aeration, to improve the green surfaces on these two golf courses,” Golf Maintenance Manager Keith Ihms, CGCS said.

“The drill and fill machine is very slow and will take a number of days to complete an 18-hole course,” Ihms said. “We will close the course that we are working on to complete the task in an efficient and timely manner.”

The greens will be playable after the drill and fill process; however, as with any type of aeration, it will take time to fully recover. For this reason, we have scheduled the drill and fill project several weeks prior to our convention aeration on the other courses, scheduled to begin at Berksdale the 17^th of April. This will ensure a minimum of 3 courses available for play that are not impacted by either aeration program.

The schedule for Drill and Fill is:

• March 5^th – 11^th – Dogwood Golf Course
• March 19^th – 25^th – Kingswood Golf Course

The schedule for conventional green aeration is:

• April 17^th & 18^th – Berksdale Golf Course
• April 23^rd & 24^th – Bella Vista Country Club Golf Course
• April 24^th & 25^th – Highlands Golf Course