As most people know, a key to success is to have a sound foundation and on a golf course that starts with the soil. Without at least decent soil, turfgrass cannot be regularly maintained to typical golf course standards. Even with decent soil, most courses do not benefit from uniform soil throughout the property either because of construction disturbance or just through nature.
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| The different colors in this field are all different soil types. |
Highlands Falls has a smorgasbord of different soil types. While most of our soils are conducive to growing decent turf, some cannot even be classified as soil as they are mostly rock. Such is the case on a few areas on the 6th fairway where we recently replaced several areas of dead turf.
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| Granite with a small amount of soil is very representative of the soil substructure on several holes at HFCC. |
These areas could be classified as concrete quicker than they could be classified as soil. They do not drain, roots cannot penetrate, and the areas are as hard as a rock. Short of digging up the fairway and hauling in at least a foot of decent soil there has not been much we could do other than re-sod the areas after the turf died.
We have decided to try a technique that an arborist once showed me to improve the rooting of trees and that is to drill into the soil and fill the holes with compost and sand. The filled holes hold moisture and provide a good medium for turf to grow. Additionally, during the winter, the moisture holding holes will freeze and thaw and fracture the adjoining soil allowing the turf to penetrate the bad soil.
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| 4" holes are drilled into the soil on the 6th fairway. |
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| The holes are approximately 6" - 8" deep. |
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| Each hole is filled with compost and sand. |
While we do not yet know long term if this process will work, I feel it will have a positive affect as it is just another way of aerating the soil, and we do know that aerating the soil works!
