It's that time of year again!

Matt on aerifier

Aerification of the golf course began about two weeks ago. Aerification is a vital part to keeping your golf course healthy and playable. Our primary goals for aerification is to relieve compaction, remove unwanted thatch, and create an easier pathway for air, water, and nutrients to get from the surface down to the roots.

GreensOur greens aerification program takes two days and requires 7 employees to complete. We begin by aerifying the green with 5/8" tines pulling a 4" long core every 2" on center. This gives us a total of almost 5,000,000 holes poked just in the greens.
We have a specialized piece of equipment called a core harvester that picks up the cores from the greens surface and puts them into the bed of a utility vehicle.
After the cores have been cleaned up we begin top dressing the green with sand. Our goal is to put down the perfect amount of sand, where all the holes are full and there is no extra sand on the playing surface.
After the sand has dried completely, we begin to drag the sand into the holes using a specialized drag mat called a coco mat. This mat is made up of millions of strong bristles that brush the sand down into the holes.
The greens will typically be 100% healed within 10 to 14 days.

topdressed green

Tees
The tee and approach aerification process is exactly the same as greens, except we use a solid tine that does not pull a core. Due to the differing types of grass from our greens to our tees, we can use different cultural practices, but still receive the same benefit.

Areway marks in fairway

Fairways and rough
Our fairways and rough are aerified with an Aerway. The Aerway will slice a hole in the turf 6" deep and 1/2" wide. This machine is very quick and we can usually aerify all 18 fairways in 3 days.

Aerification by the numbers
105 tons of sand for tees, greens (that's 210,000 pounds)
32 5/8" tines
32 3/4" tines
24 slicing tines
7 employees

History

My History

I began working at The Broadlands Golf Course as the Second Assistant Superintendent under Dan Miller after I graduated from Colorado State University in 2002. After 3 years as the Second Assistant Superintendent I was promoted to Assistant Superintendent under the then Superintendent Brian Ridgway. When Brian moved on to new endeavors I was given the chance to become Superintendent. I have been Superintendent here at the Broadlands since 2005.

During my time as Superintendent I have had the pleasure of watching the golf course mature into Broomfields best golf facility. I am proud to have been a part of a few golf course improvement projects over the years, from concrete cart path construction, to planting over 300 trees, and construction of some new tee boxes. I hope that this blog allows you to get a behind the scene look at what it takes to complete these projects.

Course History

The Broadlands Golf Course was built by Landscapes Unlimited and opened for play in early 1999. Rick Phelps designed a magnificent 7,289 yard par 72 golf course that bends its way through some of the most beautiful rolling hills of the area. The Broadlands is situated on 250 acres of land with 11 bodies of water, 69 bunkers, 3.25 acres of greens, 5.9 acres of tees, and 55 acres of fairways.

The Broadlands is owned and operated by Landscapes Unlimited (LUI). LUI is located in Lincoln, Nebraska and they are involved in Construction, project development, recreational development, and golf course ownership and management.