This is the second post dealing with topdressing practices on the golf course. In this post I will explain our procedures and goals of our fairway topdressing program. As I stated in the earlier post, topdressing is the practice of spreading a light layer of sand over the turf. On the fairways we do this with a large material handler that has a set of spinners on the back that throw the sand as the sand is dropped onto them.
Ramon topdressing the fairways.
Refilling the topdresser.
After the sand is spread onto the fairways, the thin layer is dragged into the profile.
Thin layer of sand on the turf canopy.
Antonio dragging the sand into the turf.
Our goals for topdressing fairways are different from the greens. On the greens, our main 2 goals are for smoothing out imperfections on the surface, and aiding with decomposition of organic matter. On the fairways, aiding decomposition of organic matter is a benefit from topdressing, but, our main goal is to modify the soil profile. The soil in our fairways has a high amount of clay. This clay holds a tremendous amount of water, for extended periods of time, thus, delaying the drying time after a rain event. Incorporating a layer of sand on the top of this clay will provide a layer for moisture to dry more rapidly.
You can see sand at the top of the fairway profile.
This is a practice that has been implemented for an extended period of time. As the fairways are topdressed from year to year, the benefits will become more and more noticeable. The most notable benefits to playability will be firmer fairways and quicker drying time after rain events.
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