Aeration

Winter, we’re ready

ADeep Tine Aerator from GKB Machines has been delivered and put straight to work by the team at Spalding Golf Club, as part of their pre-winter maintenance programme.

Delivering impressive aeration down to 12”, the DTA 160 has already completed passes on both the greens and the fairways since its arrival last October and will be pivotal in keeping the course clear of compaction as the wetter months ap-proach.

Head Greenkeeper Kevin Goude took charge just three months ago, and together with the greens team of five, was delighted to learn he’d inherited an order for a new GKB DTA 160 placed by his predecessor and due for delivery from local distributor Russell’s Groundcare. “We’ve got a pedestrian aerator in the shed which is ideal for summer work at depths of 4” but we needed something to replace an ageing machine that could penetrate much deeper to really help drainage and root growth” explained Kevin.

The GKB DTA is deep by name and deep by nature, offering easily adjustable depth and heave angle of up to 250 for effective compaction relief. At 1.6m wide, the DTA 160 at Spalding GC is well suited for tasks around the golf course – from fairways, tees and aprons to intensive aeration on the clubs 18 greens.

“We took delivery of the DTA 160 at the end of October and went out immediately on the greens, before switching to ¾” tines working at a depth of 10” on the fairways due to the dry summer. One thing we really like about the GKB aerator is the tine blocks which make switching between sets really quick and easy compared to having to replace each tine individually. There’s a whole range of tine options available with this machine as well so we can really make the most of it with operations throughout the maintenance calendar,” he said.

“Alongside the tine system, another thing we’ve been particularly impressed with is the build quality of the DTA - well engineered and robust to handle some of the more challenging ground conditions we have on the fairways.” Kevin concluded.

“Beside the machine itself, the support and back-up service we’ve had from Russell’s Groundcare and Tom Shinkins at GKB has also been excellent. We are now best placed to cope with whatever the weather can throw at us!”

Versatility makes the Air2G2 invaluable at Bruntsfield Links

Since a £1.2m course redevelopment in 2019, the popularity of Bruntsfield Links Golfing Society has surged along with the importance of the Air2G2 Air Inject.

The work carried out by Mackenzie & Ebert was done while preserving previous developments by Willie Park Jr., Alister MacKenzie, James Braid and Fred Hawtree. The world’s fourth oldest golf club had 80 bunkers redesigned and repositioned along with the addition of seven new greens, tee boxes and half of the irrigation system.

Now, the greenkeeping team’s most significant challenge is working between the old and new areas of the course. But to manage this, Course Manager, Neil Hogg has utilised the versatility of the Air2G2 as it has become a machine he wouldn’t be without.

“We’ve got our challenges with adapting from our old course to our new course and the Air2G2 is perfect for that,” explained Neil.

“The course is a heavy parkland clay. All of our greens are USGA specification and we have some established older tees and some brand-new tees. So, we’ve got a bit of both across the course which is on two tiers with a higher area and a lower lying area.

“We have a lot of pinch points on our greens where it is quite narrow walking in and out. We’ve got a lot of bunker surrounds where members and visitors tend to walk up and around. The Air2G2 can really target these areas and open up the soil again, relieve the surface tension and get some valuable air down and obviously, water goes down as well.

“We had the machine before we did the redevelopment, but the reason we got it was because of its versatility, it’s quick, and once you’ve been over the greens, no-one knows you’ve been there. This year during the knock-out part of our Club Championship, I ran it over the greens and nobody mentioned it because there was no impact on the play.

“After having it for six years, it is a machine I wouldn’t be without now. Over time it’s become a popular in the industry and we’ve had courses local to us asking to use it, which is the best evidence you need for what a great job it does.”

Fit for year-round play

For the first time in four years, the players at Warrenpoint Golf Club are going into the winter on main greens, thanks to an extensive aeration programme introduced by Head Greenkeeper Matt Purcell.

It’s also no coincidence that this year, Matt purchased a Redexim Carrier and Verti-Drain 1513 allowing the team to effectively aerate all 18 greens in as little as a day – keeping them bone dry and proving themselves as fit for year-round play.

Warrenpoint is ranked as one of the top parkland courses in Northern Ireland, situated in the heart of County Down and surrounded by the Mourne Mountains on one side and Carlingford Lough on the other. Matt heads-up a maintenance team of five and, on joining the club in late 2021, took some soil samples on the greens which highlighted the need for some ‘TLC’.

“Like a lot of golf clubs in Ireland, we were previously relying on contractors to come in and aer-ate, but my experience from working in clubs in England means I appreciate the multiple benefits that can be brought about with regular aeration every five to six weeks.”

“After speaking to the board, we invited Ian Lauder from Redexim and local dealer Cyril Johnston in with the Redexim Carrier and Verti-Drain, which I had trialled at a previous club. I was no-less impressed seeing it the second time around! The great thing is that the implement can be used with the Carrier or swapped onto a tractor giving you complete flexibility, and a power unit that can then conduct other operations on the greens and tees” Matt explains.

Since the combination was purchased and delivered in March this year, Matt and the team have aerated all greens once a month, along with the tees twice and specific problem areas on some of the fairways. “This set-up is just brilliant. It is faster and wider than other comparable models meaning we can complete most of our greens in four or five passes, and all 18 greens in a day. The tyres are much better as well being slick, which means we can go anywhere with it and not have to plot a specific route around the course.”

The Redexim Carrier is powered by a 31hp engine and hydrostatic transmission which lends itself to high output and ease of operation. It can work with a variety of implements such as seeders, verti-cutters and in this instance the Verti-Drain 1513 – a lightweight 1.3m model, working with 15o of heave and to a maximum depth of 6” making it ideal for use on sensitive turf areas.

“Time is of the essence with everything we do on the course. Not only do we need to be aerating when the conditions suit, but when we do the operation, we want to be round as quickly as possible so that the members can play golf,” added Matt.

“With this combination, we can now do both – delivering huge improvements to playability and course condition that hasn’t gone unnoticed by the players and the club.”

Long life a big consideration

Myreside Stadium in Edinburgh is home to George Watson’s College and Watsonian rugby club. Regular fixtures held there include Tennent’s National League Division 1, FOSROC Super Six Championship and Tennent’s Women’s Premier League matches.

Beside the main pitch, Head of Grounds, Craig Eccleston, and his team of five, have eight other full size rugby pitches, two large training areas and three cricket squares to maintain, as well as the school’s estate.

In September, they took delivery of a Wiedenmann Terra Spike GXi8 HD deep aerator from Wiedenmann UK’s Scottish dealer, Fairways GM.

“Aeration is a massive part of pitch playability and it’s important that we give all our surfaces best care. In summer I went to a demo at Dollar Academy, where the Wiedenmann team answered my questions,” said Craig.

“I thought the GXi 8 pricewise would be out my range, and we’d go for a smaller one, but I was pleasantly surprised when it came in under my budget.

“The long life of the Wiedenmann was a big consideration. The school plays so much rugby, and if you factor the FPs’ activity too, all pitches are busy right through until the summer term, when focus switches to athletics and cricket.

“We’ve relied on contractors to come in on a pre-booked day which can bring limitations. Sometimes the conditions don’t suit, or fixtures change, and it doesn’t get done. I made a financial case that if we owned our own machine, we could go out as often as necessary, making use of any windows of opportunity, especially as a full pitch can be done in just over two and a half hours. Having as many pitches, the numbers stacked up.

Craig, who took up his position almost three years ago had previous experience of working with Terra Spikes when he was head groundsman at Giggleswick School, North Yorkshire.

“This is a newer model to what I had before and I like that there are minimal grease points, so it is easy to maintain. This one is so quick and so smooth. When we look at the weather forecast for the week ahead, I say to the team, ’let’s get the machine on and we’ll pick a couple of pitches off each day and get around everything’. It makes such a difference.

“As soon as the GXi8 arrived in September we did all rugby pitches with 20 mm tines at once. A few had a second aeration in November. During January or February, we will go again once, leaving them until renovations time, which for us is the end of July.

“Our cricket wickets only need to be done annually so ours were aerated at the end of October with 8 mm tines.

“I’m happy with its progress. Ultimately, we invested in the machine to improve the overall playability of the pitches to enhance durability and performance. This enhances the enjoyment for the pupils, letting them play fast expansive rugby.”