Deep Tining

This soil profile taken from a MCC green shows the distinct topdressing and native soil layer.  As you can see the topdressing sand stops at about 4" down.  Traditional aeration machines cannot reach below this depth and to acheive better drainage into the native soil layer, deep tining is used. 

Deep tining requires a special set of tines and machine that most grounds crew do not have in their arsenal.  So here at MCC, the task is contracted out.  With a contractors specialized aeration set they can alleviate compaction issues and penetrate soil layers that regular aeration methods will not achieve.  Tining into the native soil will allow for better surface drainage which translates into firmer and faster greens, even after periods of rain.  It is an important cultural practice, specifically for native soil greens that do not have the USGA recommended sand layer of 12 inches (most older courses do not have this recommendation due to the fact they were built before the recommendations were released).

The process is similar in all aspects to a regular aeration/topdressing application.  The greens are deep-tined following a heavy application of topdressing sand.  The sand is than worked into the holes using turbine blowers and a specialized brush attached to a golf cart.  The goal is to fill all the holes to brim, creating channels for more effecient drainage.  The contractor can complete about 12 holes a day so the entire process will only take a day and a half.  We hope to see a benefit in the form of playable greens after heavy rains, which is key in the spring when members are itching to play and mother nature is ready to dump large amounts of precipitation (the spring of 2011 was one of the wettest on record).

Topdresser and Deep-Tine Tractor in action