Aeration Report for Wednesday October 13 - Not much new to report. The greens have recovered nicely. Notice the lack of a shadow, as this is the first day since October 4 that the sun has not been out. The greens continue to improve slightly. Temperatures remain above normal.

2010 Aeration Schedule

Our Goal: No Aeration Surprises. We publish our aeration schedule in advance and notify you of greens aeration when you schedule a tee time.

Greens - We offer week-long 25% green fee discounts the week of greens aeration and recovery. 9-hole greens will be aerated September 13, with green fees discounted through September 19. 18-hole greens will be aerated October 4 & 5, with green fees discounted through October 10.

Fairways - We will spike fairways instead of aerating them. Spiking does not pull any soil from the ground and causes much less mess. The course is playable immediately after a fairway has been spiked. Beginning September 13, we will spike 1-2 fairways a day. We will finish by mid-October.

Website Updates - Throughout the Fall our website will feature aeration updates, complete with daily photos of current green, tee and fairway conditions. Our goal - no aeration surprises for Village Links golfers.

Aeration Report for Tuesday October 5 - The remaining 18-hole course greens were aerated today and topd+ressed with sand. Putting conditions will improve daily as the grass grows. A 25% green fee discount remains in effect all week.

Aeration Report for Wednesday October 6 - We have rolled and mowed the greens. The grass has started to grow over the aeration holes. Putting conditions will improve daily as the grass grows. A 25% green fee discount remains in effect all week. Thanks for your understanding and support!

Aeration Report for Thursday October 7 - The warm weather has the greens recovering faster than usual from aeration.

Aeration Report for Friday October 8 - The greens are nearly 50% recovered from aeration. The warm weather this week has really sped the recovery.

Aeration Report for Saturday October 9 - The greens are more than 50% recovered from aeration. Warm weather makes a huge difference. The aeration holes still make the greens putt bumpier than normal, but putting quality has improved greatly in the last couple of days.

Aeration Report for Sunday October 10 - All 18-hole course greens were aerated and topdressed with sand earlier this week. We are rolling and mowing the greens. The grass is more than 50% grown over the aeration holes. Putting conditions will continue to improve, as the greens will speed up in the next few days.

Aeration Report for Monday October 11 - Happy Columbus Day! 18-hole course greens were aerated and topdressed with sand last week. The greens are recovering faster than normal thanks to the warm weather. The greens are putting faster and truer as we lower the height of cut and manage the turf for quality more than recovery. Within a few days the greens will be back to normal.

Aeration Report for Tuesday October 12 - There is not much to report every day, as the greens are not changing as much as they were immediately after aeration. This is Good! The greens are putting faster and truer due to frequent mowing. The sand topdressing has been worked down into the grass plants, making our mowing more effective.

Aeration Report for Wednesday October 13 - Not much new to report. The greens have recovered nicely. Notice the lack of a shadow, as this is the first day since October 4 that the sun has not been out. The greens continue to improve slightly. Temperatures remain above normal.

Aeration Report for Monday October 18 -This is the final aeration report for 2010! The greens have recovered from aeration. After two weeks of growth, mowing and rolling, putting conditions are very good. The warm weather helped a lot. Thanks for your understanding and support! Greens aeration helps insure that we will enjoy great course conditions in 2011. Meanwhile, there should be another round or two of Indian Summer golf left in 2010.

Insider info on aeration (more than you probably want to know) - There are several things that we are doing to reduce the negative impact of aeration on playing conditions. We are experimenting with a new aeration pattern on greens. Smaller holes, spaced closer together provides the same aeration benefit, but because smaller holes close up faster, we will return to "normal" putting conditions sooner. Earlier this year we tried putting on this new aeration pattern alonside the conventional pattern and found that the smaller holes putted smoother immediately after aeration. We purchased a new green sweeper that is faster and more effective at sweeping the sand topdressing into the aeration holes and down into the turf canopy. Not only does this new sweeper get us off the green quicker (reducing the amount of time spent with a temporary green in play) but it reduces the amount of sand left on the putting surface. Sand on the putting surface dulls our mowers, resulting in a poor quality of cut (and a poorer putting surface) until the sand gets worked in. Another benefit to the new sweeper is that it reduces the severity of abrasions caused by sweeping, leaving the grass healthier. We also tested new fairway aeration equipment on hole #16 this Fall. The new equipment pulls aeration plugs and grinds the plugs in one process, without waiting a few hours for the soil plugs to dry out. This equipment, plus new blowers and sweepers, would reduce the mess caused by fairway aeration and shorten the disruption on each hole. #16 fairway was the only fairway aerated this year. The other fairways were spiked without removing soil plugs. We will monitor #16 fairway next year to see if it plays better than the rest - we expect to see a difference in just one year.

Look back at last year's aeration project to see how fast (or slowly) the course recovers: Aeration 2009

How much did the warm weather help speed the receovery from aeration? How much did the new aeration spacing with smaller holes help? See for yourself.