The aerification holes on the greens have basically filled in by now. The greens have been verticut aggressively to remove spongy thatch and to create channels for more topdress sand. The dry weather, rolling, verticutting and topdress sand are what's helping our greens stay firm and fast. Here's a video of the greens being verticut - notice the mass amount of material being thrown! The thatch was blown away and the sand was recycled back into the green's surface.
A lot of the bunkers currently have an excess amount of stones in them. At Pike Lake we use a 3 wheel machine with job specific rakes behind it to rake our bunkers. There are teeth on the "bunker bike" that are designed to stir up the sand to prevent layering and caking. These teeth were replaced this past winter therefore the teeth are longer now. They seem to be stirring up some rocks that lie beneath the sand. Over time, sand in golf course bunkers moves around. Whether it be from golfers, maintenance, or mother nature. The maintenance staff has been working tediously at edging the bunkers, removing stones and moving sand within the bunkers to create a more even distribution.
Everything has a "useful life expectancy." Especially is North America - where the world's worst materialistic consumers exists! Back to bunkers..... Whether it's a drill, a lawn mower, an irrigation system, a cart path, a putting green, a drain line, a bunker or bunker sand. Everything has a tipping point - where its useful life has exhausted itself. In the case of our bunkers at Pike Lake - they are do for an upgrade in playability. Over the next couple weeks we will be adding sand to all the bunkers at Pike Lake. We have started adding sand to the Lake Course bunkers. We expect the sand for the Links Course bunkers to arrive within the next couple weeks.
Please be patient with the maintenance staff as we distribute sand amongst the bunkers. Also please be patient with the "soft lies" or "fried egg" lies that may occur due to the fresh addition of sand. Once the bunkers receive sand, are raked regularly and the faces are tamped - the lies should improve.
Adios and enjoy.
