Golf course superintendents across New England always welcome Labor Day weekend. The holiday marks two important milestones. One is the air and soil temperatures are slowly start to drop which allows the plant to divert more of its energy into the roots. Secondly, it kickoffs the start of cultural practices on greens, tees, and fairways. These practices although disruptive are necessary for growing healthy plants.

The putting greens were aerated with 3/8th hollow times and vertical mowed in two directions. We applied an appropriate amount of topdressing and worked it into the green canopy. The vertical mowing removes organic matter which will firm up the putting surface. The topdressing and core aeration provides channels for deeper and denser rooting. The smaller holes filled in quick and we were cutting greens with sharp reels a week later.

Over the next few weeks, we will aerate the practice area and tee boxes and begin vertically mowing the fairways. Vertical mowing removes a significant amount of organic material and can temporarily leave the fairways in poor playing condition until the debris is cleared. While we recognize this may be inconvenient during play, it is essential to maintaining high-quality turfgrass.

The green industry is in the infancy of autonomous mowing and is the future of golf course maintenance. We will have a demonstration unit operating on the property in the near future. I will go into more details in my next update. In the meantime enjoy the cooler days and I will see you out in the fairways!