Aeration of the fairways

For the most part, aerifing the fairways is the same as the way we do the greens. The changes are that we use a bigger machine, mounted on a tractor.  We also use a larger, stronger tine.  This is because the soil in the fairways has more rocks than the greens and the larger size holds up better.  The bigger holes are also less noticeable on a fairway, where we cut the grass higher (9/16 inch as opposed to 1/8 inch on the greens.)

Here are the bigger plugs.

Then, instead of removeing the plugs and replacing it with sand, we drag the plugs back into the turf. This is due to economics, with 22 acres of fairways, we could not afford to put down new sand.  We have three drag mats, a heavy, plastic model

and two smaller, metal mats.

We spend a long time driving around in circles in order to break up the plugs.

This is what we end up with.

All that is left is the thatch and leaf tissue, which we blow off the fairway and into the rough,

where we mulch up the plugs with our rough mowers.