Golf Courses
Greens:
Greens are the most highly managed turf areas on a golf course. Having the right balance of oxygen, water, and solids in the root zone is critical for optimal plant health. We believe that a good aeration program is a key element to achieving the proper soil balance. Another major factor in the decision to aerate is timing. Closing for a day or more to aerate is hard for most courses due to lost revenue. Reliable has worked with many courses to get the aeration done without completely shutting down.
Reliable Golf Services offers a wide range of aeration options that can help any facility achieve their goals. When it comes to greens aeration we have the ability to deep tine with ½” or ¾” tines or aerate with solid or hollow tines to a more traditional depth of 2”- 3”. We also have the option to quadra-tine with hollow tines that are ¼” diameter on 1.25” x 1.25” spacing.
- Deep tine aeration: A tractor mounted 60” Southern Green aerifer is equipped with tines that are ½” or ¾” in diameter by 12” long. When the tine is fully extended in the soil there is a slight ‘kick’ that helps loosen the soil and alleviate compaction to a depth of 8”. Whether you are trying to alleviate compaction, break into a soil base in a push up green, create channels through old layers, or just create deep channels for root growth with improved oxygen and water exchange, there is a measurable benefit to deep tining putting greens.
- Core aeration: The more traditional ½” core aeration on a 2”x 2” spacing is a great way to remove thatch and organic matter from the top of the root zone. Reliable has two Toro 648 aerifiers that can be coupled with core harvesters to make quick work of aerating your greens and cause less disruption to your normal crew operations and the play on your course. Once the potentially labor intensive part of picking up cores is complete, you can take your time spreading sand and filling in the holes.Reliable Golf Services’ crew can also topdress, broom, and blow the sand on your greens to fill the holes to complete the entire aeration process.
- Quadra Tine Aeration: Typically quadra tines are ¼” hollow tines that are spaced closer together. The smaller holes disturb less surface area (2.5{3e3263fc55dc7d132556bc41f9befb3b7ae558d4e7832ca3689d3e4bf117ba48} versus 5{3e3263fc55dc7d132556bc41f9befb3b7ae558d4e7832ca3689d3e4bf117ba48} with ½” tines), heal faster, and have a more puttable surface immediately after aeration. This is a great option for a second aeration or for greens without excessive thatch or high organic matter problems.
Tees:
Reliable Golf Services has the equipment to properly aerify the tees on your golf course. Typically we recommend pulling cores, but solid tining is always an option. We can also pick up the cores on your tees and dispose of them on site if you’re interested in topdressing with compost, soil, or sand. Solid tine aeration complements a topdressing program very well.
Fairways:
Reliable Golf Services can bring our tractor mounted Toro aerifiers to your course to get the job done. We can either solid tine or pull cores at your facility. Tractor mounted Toro aerifiers can either solid tine or pull cores at your facility. There are options for spacing and tine sizing depending on your needs, but most courses choose a ¾” tine on a 4”x 4” spacing pattern. Tractors and aerifiers are expensive pieces of equipment and instead of making an investment in equipment that doesn’t get used very often, let Reliable Golf Services help your bottom line and get the job done for you!
Athletic Fields
Traffic and compaction are the major stressors of athletic fields. Even though we have ‘golf’ in our name, Reliable Golf Services can help your athletic fields with our tractor mounted aerifiers. A solid aeration program coupled with proper fertilizer, overseeding, and herbicide applications can give your field a thick, continuous stand of turfgrass that athletes will enjoy playing on. Our tractor mounted aerifiers will aerate to a depth of 2.5”- 3” and can either pull cores or punch solid holes. Our tractor mounted deep tine aerifier can aerate to a depth of 8”-10” and not only creates holes, but also loosens the soil to alleviate compaction to a greater depth.
Compost applications using our large CR-10 topdresser combined with solid tine aeration provides a great benefit for athletic fields. There is nutrient value in the compost that can help reduce fertilizer inputs and the compost also provides a good playing subsurface and a good growing medium for turfgrass plants.
If you can use help with the condition of your athletic fields, the team at Reliable Golf Services is happy to take a look at your facility at no charge and help you come up with solutions to have your turf looking and playing at its best.