Allison - Flight Zone Toptracer Driving Range

The Caring Caricos

Our family feels fortunate to be the host to about forty fundraising golf outings each year. It never ceases to amaze me that there are so many great causes out there that need help. I have featured several of them here on our website. If you’d like to check them out, you can click here, here, here or here. With that number, that’d mean in the last nine years that I have been in charge of golf outings, I have been witness to more than 350 golf outing starts. The golf outings all begin with festive shouts of excitement as the golfers take off to their designated holes. Don’t get me wrong, I truly enjoy those excited joyous starts to a golf outing, but last week, I had the privilege to witness something entirely different. As the 143 golfers prepared to head out to play golf, they were gathered around to remember the one golfer who was their honorary golfer of the day, Cameron Carico. Cameron’s name was listed on the cart among his other family member names who were assigned to begin on hole number one, but Cameron was only there in spirit. Cameron’s cousin, Michael Cameron, addressed the crowd with Cameron’s favorite bible verse. For those of you interested (and/or are confused), Cameron was his mother’s maiden name which can potentially lead to a confusing number of Camerons or Caricos in this post. Psalm 46:1- God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in times of trouble. Michael went on to address the crowd while the family displayed checks showing over $10,000 that had been raised for Suicide Prevention and Mental Health Awareness. Then, he started the golf outing with a prayer. That was a big moment for me as a golf outing coordinator, mother, member of our community and fellow Christian. The Carico family has been through such heartache, yet here they all were. Encouraging one another and doing something to honor Cameron’s legacy. Upholding the truth in that bible verse and leaning on each other and God to make a difference in our community. That strength of family and friends continued throughout the day as the number of volunteers surpassed any number I have ever seen at a golf outing. Everyone staying true to their foundation’s mission to promote happy and healthy students and families in Central Iowa through suicide prevention and mental health education. As the prayer was finished, the golfers walked to their golf carts to begin the day of celebration. Cameron’s sister gave the official start to the day. A golf outing seemed like a good way to raise money because it was something that Cameron enjoyed with his family. Here is Cameron pictured with the traveling plate/trophy for when the family played golf together. Those special times together playing golf led to the current tournament. You couldn’t have asked for better weather. The sun was shining brightly and there was just a slight breeze. Smiling and encouraging family members were ever-present throughout the day. Fully aware of who they were here to remember, but choosing to turn a tragedy into a positive. This is only their second year to hold this golf outing. They had a full number of golfers last year and this year which speaks volumes on the amount of support they have received from our community. It is pretty rare for a fundraising golf outing to begin with a full complement of golfers. Suicide Prevention and Mental Health is such a hard topic to address, but the Caricos do it with poise, grace, and positivity. They all worked together to make a great experience for their golfers. It was such a fun day! One of their event holes took place on number nine. If golfers went into the water, then they got a snickers. This hole was to help golfers understand what it was like to play golf with Cameron. He was always able to turn a negative into a positive! The family has been working hard to make their foundation recognized as an official 501c3 and they are very close to making that a reality. In the last year, Cameron Carico +10 Foundation has been able to donate $4,000 to the Orchard Place and Polk County Suicide Prevention Coalition as well as $11,000 to the Iowa Health Student Assistance Program. This year, they were able to raise more than $10,000 at their golf outing. I have mentioned it several times, but I gotta say it one more time because it’s true. One of my favorite aspects of my job is getting to meet some inspirational people. The Carico family is a very large group of people working extremely hard to make a difference in the lives of others. Their positive energy and attitudes just flow freely and have a great effect on the people around them. If you’d like to help them out, you can make a donation on their website.

Days of our Ceremony Site Episode #5: We Have Grass!

Project List

I’m sure you have all been on the edge of your seat wondering how the new ceremony site is coming along. When we last left our ceremony site, we had decided to install irrigation and speaker wire, then we seeded the site and crossed our fingers. The soil has caused us fits all year, so we didn’t have very high hopes. It was about this time that mother nature decided she would get confused and give us a heat wave at the end of August and first of September and make our ability to maintain water levels more difficult for our irrigation system. Basically, that was a bunch of mumbo jumbo saying, “It took us a whole lot longer than we thought to get grass to come up.” Let’s cut to the chase. We’re happy to announce. We have grass. Here’s what it looked like about three weeks ago. With the cooler temps and little bit of rain that we got last week, it really has helped to get some grass to grow. We’re pretty pleased with the amount of grass that has come up, however, we plan to plant some additional grass and cover the peninsula with some fertilizer to get it to fill in. Here’s our to do list for the fall: build pergola transplant trees along the cart path that leads across the pond pull weeds along the bank landscape around the newly planted trees bring in additional compost to fill in the low spots of the trenched areas install bigger irrigation head to get water farther across the peninsula bring in woodchips for landscaped area plant native grasses in pond banks finish connecting speaker system finish connecting to electricity at the golfer’s lounge I’m not trained in photoshop by any stretch, so please forgive my very rough vision. I thought this might help you to see where we are headed with this area. Trust me. It’ll be pretty and slightly less disjointed than pictured. Can you see it? Does anyone want to take bets on whether we will get all of those items crossed off our to do list this fall?

Something Old. Something New. Something Borrowed. Something Orange?

Golf Course

One of the hardest things about running a business is trying to figure out when you’re supposed to make capital improvements, when you’re supposed to buy new/used equipment and when you’re supposed to pinch your pennies and just make do with what you have. As a general rule, we always pinch our pennies. Our family believes in offering our golfers a reasonably priced golf experience with quality conditions. Sometimes keeping the reasonable pricing might mean making cuts here or there or doing our best to use a piece of equipment for at least one more season. There are also outside factors that often come into play in our financial decisions. I’d say one of our hardest years to stay in business happened about five years ago when the main road to our facility was closed during our entire busy season from May through September. In order to come to our golf course, there was a pretty lengthy detour. It took us several years to recoup all that we lost in that one year. All in the name of progress, right? I share this with you because what I’m about to tell you is a pretty big deal in our neck of the woods. As a rule, we purchase equipment that has come off of lease, so it might be 3 – 4 years old with several hundred hours of use on it. Then, we use it and use it and use it. Some days we even have to say a prayer to get our equipment to work. We don’t really have a set pattern in how we replace equipment. Basically, when it’s no longer running consistently, we start shopping for a replacement. Over the years, we have found that sometimes you just simply get a lemon and age doesn’t have anything to do with how one piece runs over another. As I mentioned in this post, our greens mowers have seen better days. We have three of them, but they are all fairly old. Most of the summer, the only one that worked consistently was the one that we bought about 15 years ago. There are many things that you can do without, but a good/reliable greens mower isn’t one of them. When I got on the phone to see what mowers would be coming off lease this fall, my salesman told me about a deal that I couldn’t refuse. I think I heard a pin drop when I called up my brother to tell him that I thought we should buy a brand new greens mower. We visited with Dad about it and crunched some numbers. Yesterday, our hot off the assembly line mower arrived to our shop with a big smile on his face. Can you see the smiling face? It was the first thing that we noticed. I think our new little mower is happy to be here. The other first thing we noticed was its number of hours. It arrived with zero. Not very many hours compared to our old girl who has been going like the energizer bunny for many years! After our new mower got off the delivery truck and the papers were signed, Jason and Ron arm wrestled over who got to take it for its first spin. Given that Ron had shoulder surgery and can’t work, Jason won easily. Maybe when Ron’s shoulder heals, we can have a rematch just for fun. Yep! It mows like a champ! If I’m not mistaken, I think that is Jason wiping tears of joy. I have no idea what Ron is doing, but I’m sure it’s important and has nothing to do with hugging the new mower that will actually run. How about you? Do you get excited when you get brand new equipment or vehicles? Our outside crew were a bunch of giddy school girls yesterday. I tried to get a picture of them all jumping, but they declined. Fun-a-phobes!

Angels in our Midst

Events

In my line of business, I get to meet some incredible people. They are people who have huge hearts and display an unbelievable amount of dedication to their cause. Our golf course is fortunate to be a venue that helps foundations, charities, families or other organizations raise money. While working during an event, I often have to stop what I’m doing when it comes to the award presentation after the golf outing. That’s when it becomes something so much more than golf. It becomes a network of people pushing one another to do great things. Friends. Families. Non-golfers. Golfers. Everyone is pulling together for the greater good. They are in it to raise money. They are in it to make a difference. I love the laughter. It’s what drives me to work very long days throughout the summer months. When I hear the laughter, it unites. It gives me purpose. I see so many people who have gone through such adversity in their lives, yet they rise above it. Meet Jason and Cindy Berkley. Jason and Cindy lost their daughter, Jamie, seven years ago. She was born with Angelman Syndrome which is a neurodevelopmental disorder that affects speech, developmental delays, balance, and epilepsy. After losing their daughter, they decided they wanted to adopt a child with the same syndrome. As it turns out, they adopted two. One of the best characteristics of individuals with Angelman’s is that they are the happiest people on earth. Seriously! Look at those smiling girls! Seven years ago, their daughter, Jamie, contracted meningitis and passed away very suddenly. In 2012, they decided they wanted to hold a golf outing to help raise money for the Foundation for Angelman Syndrome Therapeutics (FAST). This foundation is run strictly by volunteers, so all of the proceeds go right back into the hands of the researchers who are doing what they can to help find a cure. As I was cleaning up from the golf outing, I began listening to Paula Evans, the foundation’s chairman, talk about what last year’s golf outing was able to purchase. I stopped working and listened. It was amazing to hear what this small group of family and friends were able to do in just one year! This amazing family with hearts of gold and their group of volunteers were able to raise enough money last year to purchase a desperately needed microscope for the researchers. Ironically, the amount of money raised was almost equal to the cost of the microscope right to the dollar. Paula went on to explain that the microscope had been named after Jamie. This year’s golf outing would be raising money for a research grant named the Jamie Berkley Memorial Grant. I looked across the room at all of these people who had come together to make a difference in the lives of those with Angelman’s Syndrome. My eyes fell on Jason and Cindy Berkley who both had tears in their eyes. Then, it traveled to others families who were smiling thinking about what the researchers might some day find. Some groups of golfers had gathered their sweet children from their wheelchairs, so they could ride on the golf cart on the course and enjoy the beautiful day. Every time I saw one of the angels, they were smiling. Their happiness was contagious. As with most golf outings, they had sign sponsors at each tee box. These signs also celebrated the lives of those who had passed away due to complications with Angelman’s syndrome. Angelman’s doesn’t directly affect the life expectancy, however, many children die because of complications such as seizures. Their families were here, too. Remembering their loved one. Doing what they can to make a difference. One of Cindy’s friends even took her first stab at making a quilt that was bid on in a silent auction to help raise money. I thought it was pretty well done for her first time quilting! They also sold t-shirts and encouraged one another with their positive spirit. It was a room full of “bucket fillers.” When my daughter was in kindergarten, she came home to tell us that we all walk around with invisible buckets. Some people fill those buckets with positive thoughts, compliments and energy, while others take from your bucket and bring you down. These people had bucket filling down. Their buckets were overflowing. It was an amazing day. Everyone celebrating Jamie Berkley’s life. Her dad had a logo for the golf outing made using her initials JB. They happen to form a butterfly. A butterfly with a halo. If you’d like to donate to this foundation, please follow this link to find out more! They hold a golf outing every year at our place. Next year’s is already in the books. Sunday, September 21, 2014 at 9:00 a.m.

Tips from the Toad: The Golf Grip

Golf Course

We thought it might be fun (since we’re a golf course after all) to provide some golf related tips. We’re going to start out very simply with a proper golf grip. When I starting golfing, I was about five years old. I can still remember Mike Horton to this day telling the group of junior golfers that the most important lesson you learned in golf was how to grip the club. If you get it started out wrong, it’s so hard to correct. Hopefully, these easy steps will add some insight. If not, at least it didn’t cost you anything. When you first grip the club, you will want the handle of the club to run across the fingers of your left hand. (Sorry lefties, I know you’re the only ones in your right mind, but these directions will all have to be reversed for you). And underneath the pad on your hand. Make sure it isn’t running through your palm, but rather the line where your fingers and hand meet. When you bring your hand around to grip the club, the V that forms should point directly to your left shoulder. When you put your right hand on the grip, you need to cover your left thumb. Both of the V’s that form point to your right shoulder. On the back of the grip, there are three ways that you can hold your hands. The first option is the baseball grip which has all of your fingers touching the grip. Another option is call the overlap where your pinky finger rests between your pointer and middle finger. The final option is called the interlock. This is where your pinky and pointer finger are interlocked together. This is the grip that I use, so therefore it is the best. No, in all honesty, it is whatever feels the most comfortable to you. When you bring the club down to the ground, you know your grip is correct when there are two V’s formed with your hands. When you stand with your club head on the ground, those V’s will point to your right shoulder. Ok. That completes our lesson on how to grip your club. We plan to cover several ways to adjust your stance if you have a hook, slice, or are planning to chip up onto the green. If you have a request, feel free to add it in the comment section.

Smokey the Bear

Our Green Thumb

There are two ideal times of the year to deal with trees: the spring and the fall. This is because of how the tree protects itself. In the height of summer, the tree has all of its branches filled with sap and nutrients. As it prepares for the winter, it begins to concentrate its nutrients to the trunk. In the spring, it is just coming out of its winter protection, so its nutrients are mostly in the trunk. Trees are more likely to survive a pruning and keep healthy when trimmed in the spring or fall. This means that my dad, Tom, has two big seasons of tree pruning. Given that we have over 300 varieties of trees on the golf course which equate to several thousand of trees, that is no easy job. Dad likes to keep the trees trimmed up to help with pace of play. If the branches are low on the tree, then it makes it harder to see your golf ball. It also can cause cart damage because golfers think their carts will fit under the tree when in fact, they don’t. Dad has been very busy the last two weeks trimming all of the trees on the golf course. He takes it one rough section at a time. When he is done with all of his tree trimming, he gathers all of the branches and cleans everything up. Upon first glance, you may think we were hit by some straight line winds. It’s actually just a Tom storm. He trims all of the low branches on the trees as well as all of the dead branches. Our family refers to dad as the human squirrel because he is always in a competition with squirrels in the fall for nuts and seeds. He plants thousands of seeds every year. Over the years, he has gotten selective in what seeds he plants. Walnuts no longer make the cut. The squirrels appreciate that! Because we aren’t within city limits, we are still able to burn all of our brush. After he piles up all of the debris, he lights the burn pile. In dad’s younger years, he had quite a few exciting run ins with the burn pile. The one event that stands out in my mind was about 25 years ago, when the fire spread and covered about 100 acres of our farmland. It took about four fire departments to get the fire put out. Since then, dad has learned to be more cautious. Since you rarely live down mistakes you make in our family, he has been gifted several stuffed animals of Smokey the Bear. My mom really likes the two weeks he spends every fall trimming tree branches and burning debris because he comes home absolutely covered in soot. Doing laundry for someone who works outside can often be full of adventures and challenges. Even though the branches were just on a tree an hour ago, they still burn easily because the fire gets so hot. The fresh debris does produce a darker cloud of smoke. How about you? Do you trim your trees in the fall? Have you driven by the golf course and thought we were on fire?

Let’s Talk About Water, Shall We?

Project List

For the second year (almost three), we have found ourselves in drought conditions. I thought I’d share with you all the fun that those conditions can bring to a golf course. In case you can’t tell, I’m using the word fun very loosely. Droughts are definitely good for exposing your weaknesses in irrigation and (possibly) patience with a smidge of lack of sleep. Our family knows that there will definitely be a time when we will be talking about too much water in the near future. It’s the way the story goes. The last time a drought hit our area was in the 80’s. After experiencing it, our family installed a fairway irrigation system in 1990. Please keep in mind that when our course opened in 1973, we opened with our tees and greens irrigated. The fairway watering was an upgrade that we felt was necessary after going through a drought. Up until the last two years, we haven’t been tested in our abilities to water the golf course in severe drought conditions. Our fairway watering had not been tested to its current degree. For that, I am thankful. All of our ponds are filled through run off. This works well as long as there is at least some amount of moisture (rain) to run off and fill the ponds up with water. They are also fed through a small unnamed creek bed (currently dried up), however, none of the supply of water comes from a natural spring. In normal years, this doesn’t present a problem because even if we only get one inch of rain in a month, it is enough to feed all of our ponds and replenish the creek bed. Enter 2013. The last time we got rain was on June 23 which was about eleven weeks ago. Last year, we dredged our ponds to help us retain some additional water. This was successful in that we were able to keep our tees, fairways and greens watered until the last week in August. That was about four weeks longer than we were able to water last year in 2012. In most years, I’d consider that to be a success, however, we clearly need more water. In the last week of August, we hit our heat wave and that made our job a little more challenging. Once the heat wave hit, we could no longer keep our irrigation pond level steady with what we were taking out vs. what we were putting in. In that last week, our pond level dropped down about two feet. In order to keep our greens and tees alive, we had to stop watering fairways to conserve water and allow time for us to build up a water supply in our irrigation pond. In the last week, we have starting pumping all of our other ponds dry to fill our irrigation pond. The first pond we pumped dry runs right next to number one’s fairway. This is the same pond where our friendly turtles like to hang out on that branch that is now clearly visible. After pumping this pond dry, we thought we might have enough water to begin watering fairways again. Before we could make that decision, Jason needed to check the water level in our irrigation pumping pond. We have two pumps to our irrigation system. One is a jockey pump which can sustain our greens and tees. The other is a big daddy that sucks up lots of water in order to water the 40ish acres we have in fairways. Water levels are really important because you cannot start sucking up mud or you severely damage the pump. Let’s just say, these pumps aren’t something you buy at Menards. You could buy a nice new car or a big daddy pump. Either way, the price would be the same. In other words, we don’t mess around with our big daddy pump. Unfortunately, the most tried and true method for checking water levels is to get right in there and see what’s going on. Jason is always quick to volunteer the only one crazy enough for the fun jobs around here. He optimistically put on his waders to check things out. He waded out into our irrigation pond. Slowly, but surely. Until he got to our intake valve. It was about this time, that the waders were of no use. He was very pleased with his decision to remove his phone from his pocket before tackling this job. He may not look like he’s having fun in this picture, but trust me. He is. These two intakes valves lead to our irrigation system. The smaller one feeds our jockey pump for greens and tees. The big pump feeds our big daddy which is required for watering fairways. He made his way back out of the water. No longer being cautious about staying dry. Yep. That’d be water in the waders. Jason has always had a sense for fashion. He determined that we could begin watering our fairways again based on our current water levels. To prevent himself from having to get back in the water tomorrow to check water levels again, he marked the water level. This will show him at a glance if he has taken the pond level down too far overnight. Being highly scientific, it was marked with a nearby stick. He gave himself a big pat on the back because that meant that his nightly ritual of pumping water was beginning to pay off! That’s right. Jason hasn’t slept much over the last week because he has been busy pumping water from all of our other water sources in order to fill our irrigation pond. The pump is gas-powered, but only lasts for two hours, so he has to wake every two hours to fill the pump with gas and make sure everything is working properly. As I mentioned earlier, he pumped our pond next to number one fairway dry last week. That hard work

Talented Dads Are Cool

Events

We have held probably over 250 wedding receptions at our facility in the last five years. I can say with great certainty that every single one looks different. Even if they have the same color scheme, there is always a different twist. A splash of the couple’s personality in the mix. It might be my favorite part of the job. Every weekend, we get to see how the next couple will transform our room to fit their personalities. A few weeks ago, we had a dad who blew our minds with his talent and creativity. When he was showing me what he had designed for the centerpieces, I must have asked him twenty times, “You seriously made this?” This amazing dad asked a recycling center if he could have their blue wine bottles. Then, he painstakingly cut the bottoms off of 72 bottles and filled them with LED lights that were on a string of pearls. Plus, he built boxes for the battery packs to sit in to keep the whole thing hidden. Each centerpiece features one bottle sitting atop the handmade box, a single bottle filled with the LED lights, and a vase. As part of the centerpiece, he cut some of the bottles in half and then glued them back together to create a vase. Because it was cut glass, he also sanded down all 30 of the vases that he had created. Not leaving his daughter’s table out, he made her a special taller vase to hold her bouquet. As a part of the ceremony, he made each individual frame for all of the pictures. On the ends of the aisles, he had pictures of the bride and groom in timeline format, so the guests could watch them grow up as they walked to the front of the church building. Once the ceremony was complete, he brought all of those frames to our place for the reception and used them as part of the centerpiece. He also made “redneck” wineglasses for the head table by gluing mason jars to the tops of candle holders. For the bride and her bridesmaids, he included labels on their glasses for personalization. To tie the whole “wine glass” theme together, they had a wine barrel wedding cake that was completely edible. The groom (and bride) are big husker fans, so the groom’s cake featured a husker’s football jersey on it. I found his craftiness too cool not to share! The best part is that this dad is actually a taxidermist! He must have lots of spare time now that his beautiful daughter is married! What do you think? Have you ever tried the method of cutting bottles that involve pouring fuel on string, then lighting the string and hitting the bottle on a hard surface? Supposedly it creates a good cut, however, this dad just went and purchased a wet saw. I think he told me he cut and sanded over 100 bottles!

Tulip Tree – Liriodendron tulipifera

Our Green Thumb

Here’s is my dad back with another edition of the Trees of Toad Valley. If you’d like to read others, check them out: Sawtooth Oak, American Persimmon, and the Chinese Elm. Author: Tom Brady As I have mentioned in the past, this is an article that originally appeared in the Iowa Woodland Owners Association newsletter titled Timber Talk. I have a column where I feature non-native trees that are on the golf course. Tulip Tree The Tulip Tree (Liriodendron tulipifera) is the taller species of hardwood in the Eastern forest with some specimens reaching over 150 feet in height. In their natural range, they grow as far west as Illinois and as far south as northern Florida. Because of this, location of seed source is important in attempting plantings outside their normal range. Other common names for this tree are Tulip Poplar and Yellow Poplar, but the tree is actually closely related to the magnolias. Tulip trees are fast-growing and pyramid in growth habit. Their chief desirable characteristics are uniquely-shaped bright green leaves that look like a six-inch maple leaf with its tip cut off, leaving four lobes, its tulip-like flowers and its fall color. In the fall, it turns a brilliant yellow color. I’ve killed a lot of trees to get the two tulip trees to grow. One of which is now 12 to 15 feet high and is a beautiful specimen. No flowers yet, though. I know of two large trees, one in Prairie City and one in Carlisle. I’ve tried growing from seed once with no success. According to my research, they produce very few good seeds. There are at least three of these trees on the golf course. The easiest to spot is just short of number two green on the left.

A Golf Course’s Harvest Time

Project List

When I was a kid, I loved the time of year when we aerated greens. The entire crew would come together and it felt like every piece of equipment we owned had a duty for the day. There was excitement in the air. Mom always made a special meal for the outside crew and there were lots of nods from fellow workers as they passed one another in their duties. It was always a huge family affair. To me, it always felt like harvest time. Of course, I had no idea why the golf course aerated because I was a kid. I just loved to play in the massive sand piles with my cousins and then as the sand piles became smaller, it was also fun to play in the grass plugs. They kind of looked like cat turds to us as kids. I guess it was fun to pretend we were playing in a huge piles of cat turds? You could say I was a strange child. About three weeks ago, we aerated our greens on the golf course. Times are a little different from when I was a kid. We like to aerate earlier in the year than we did previously. This is for several reasons. The most important one being that the greens heal incredibly fast. If you were to walk on our greens today, you’d never be able to tell they were aerated three weeks ago. This is because the ground temperatures are very high which stimulates root growth and the holes fill in fast. It is very important to aerate greens because it helps to alleviate compaction. Our greens are mowed every single day and they are walked on by hundreds of golfers every day. All of that weight can take its toll on the greens. Ideally, we like to aerate twice a year. Once in the spring and once in the fall. This spring we were very dry, so we decided to forgo it and wait for the fall instead. During the state fair week, we are usually pretty slow. That’s why we took advantage of it and aerated on the Wednesday of fair week. Before we can begin, we have to mark all of the irrigation heads with flags and remove all of the cups and flags from the greens. Once that job is complete, we fill the cups with a special plastic piece that helps to cap off the hole. This prevents the aerator from damaging the hole, plus it protects it from getting completely filled with sand. The next stage in the process involves Doug. Doug runs the big tractor with the top dresser attached to it. The top dresser is filled with a special sand mix. This sand is aptly called top dressing sand. Clever, huh? It is evenly mixed with similar sized grain particles. I’m sure you can just guess how much fun this was to play in as a child. Putting sand on the greens helps them to keep a true putt. This machine is pretty impressive to watch in action. Each green takes one full load of sand, so there is a lot of traveling for Doug who has to fill it back up after every green. Here is a little clip of it spreading the sand. It’s leaves a nice even layer on the green. There are sharp metal blades on the inside that help to send the sand through the shoot and out through the opening that spreads out the sand. I won’t mention any names, but one member of my family almost lost his finger when he tried to unclog the top dresser while it was still moving. [wpvideo JYc2QGwm] Once the sand has been spread, it is time for the green to be aerated. There are two different methods of aerating. One method involves pulling out grass plugs. The other method is called deep tine aerating. Both are valuable. As a rule, we deep tine in the spring and pull plugs in the fall. With the crazy whether we have been having, we decided to deep tine this fall. It is important to pull plugs because you can fill the plugs with sand and it allows for more expansion. Deep tine aeration stimulates root growth. The tines go down 8 to 10 inches into the soil and the roots love the extra oxygen and spread out. You can see in this picture, the tines are solid, so they are essentially punching a large hole in the green’s surface. This piece of equipment has many moving parts. Once the holes have been punched in the ground, the aerator has rollers attached to it to smooth things out. Here is a clip of the aerator in action. It’d definitely make a fun piece of equipment to play truth or dare. I dare you to put your hand between the moving tines. I wonder if mass amounts of blood on the green would be as beneficial as the sand. [wpvideo JtmKXkMY] Once the aerator has passed over, you’re left with a green that is completely filled with holes. As you can see, much of the sand is still on top of the green and must be brushed into the holes. That’s where our outside crew comes in to save the day! Here’s Dick, who is our first pass through with a coarse brush. Dick drives around in circles on the green brushing the sand into the holes. To prevent himself from getting too sick, he alternates going clockwise on one green and then counter clockwise on the next. What can I say? He wouldn’t make a very good race car driver. This little piece of equipment is cleverly called a drag brush. Aren’t these people good with their name choices? They definitely wouldn’t want to get a job naming paint colors. They’d probably name the paint something like brown, light brown, and lighter brown. Luckily is was a beautiful morning, so you can’t really help

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