Destroying Fairway Aerification Cores

Before we get started, we need to have everyone on the same page. The title of this article is not about a recent COPS episode, and it is not a reference to someone getting caught on Candid Camera. The reason for the title is how to find a way to bust up aerification cores in the fairway during periods of heavy play.

A dilemma many superintendents face when aerifying fairways is whether or not they should try to pick the cores up, drag them in, or leave them alone. How many times have you seen a course that has aerified and still has remnants of cores lying around three weeks later?

Ken Williams, CGCS, superintendent at Stanford Golf Course, has found a piece of equipment that tackles this problem in a matter of only a few hours. Ken heard about the machine from a friend and decided it was worth a shot.

The number of daily rounds at Stanford is staggering, up to 380 a day. Trying to schedule large maintenance tasks such as fairway aerification can be a superintendent’s worst nightmare. Fortunately for Ken and his crew, this piece of equipment has made it easier to keep the course playable during an intense and invasive maintenance procedure.

The equipment, a Selbro Core Processor, is easily mounted into the back of a Cushman (or Workman type vehicle). A regular Core Harvester is mounted on the side of the Cushman. The harvester scoops up the cores and delivers them to a grinder in the Processor. Once the cores hit the two rows of rubber teeth (sweeper fingers) they are pulverized into very fine pieces. The material is then broadcasted with spinners out the back of the Cushman onto the fairway. A utility cart towing a steel mat then drags in the core remnants into the turf and a tractor-mounted blower sends the remaining debris (grassy matter) into the rough. Voila, an aerified fairway with no mess.

As good as the process is, it does have a drawback. It can be time consuming. To get the cores into the Processor, all cores must be picked up by the Core Harvester, which takes some time. Using one Core Harvester/Core Processor, Ken’s crew can aerify two large-sized fairways a day, depending upon the amount of play on the course.

The equipment has been fairly dependable so far. The machine will break up wet cores; however some soil can build up inside the unit and can create problems. It is best to leave the irrigation off for at least a night or two before the process. Ken’s equipment technician, David Herrick, has also modified the Cushman bed that houses the core processor. A hole was cut in the bottom of the bed (not necessary with a Workman) to allow small core tailings to fall onto the ground instead of building up between the unit and the bed. Other miscellaneous maintenance repairs have included replacing some of the rubber teeth in the grinder, plus ordering a new support link that houses the rubber teeth.

The results of the core buster have been positive not only from the superintendent’s side but also the pro shop side at Stanford. The head golf professional, Don Chelemedos, says the golfers hardly notice the difference once the aerification process has taken place. Ken likes the fact that the piece of equipment is relatively inexpensive and will recoup the cost of equipment in only a few uses of the machine. Traditionally, labor costs associated with cleaning up cores can be quite significant. Now, two to three workers can knock out the whole process in a matter of hours, instead of weeks.

So, if anyone wants to get busted, this piece of equipment will help in aerifying the fairways, but can’t get you on Candid Camera.