The greens were aerified on the 4th of April and are still healing up.  Hopefully, we will be ninety percent healed by the middle of next week.  Comments from members and guest have been mostly positive, "they're not that bad" is about the best I can hope for.  As usual, spring aerification takes a much longer time to heal up than fall aerification, mainly due to soil temperatures.  The recent daytime highs in the low 70s have not been that great, but it could be worse.

 From a little distance away the greens look like they are completely healed, but a lot of things look good from a long ways away.  Upon closer inspection, or when rolling a putt, the greens still need some time to recover from this aggressive, invasive process.

The keys are in the photo for a size reference (not sure what half of them go to, but always been afraid to throw them away).  The density and smoothness is no where near what we want or what we had on April 3rd.  However, drainage has been improved, the greens can breathe, and they are ready to take on the heat of summer.  We just need a few more days to get back in shape.

Bentgrass populations continue to improve due to our growth regulator practices during the winter.  We still have plenty of poa annua so we will manage both to maintain a good putting surface.  Thatch is enemy number one and aerification is the main way to combat the problem.  We are set up really nice for the next few months, so thank you for your patience and giving the maintenance department the time needed to care for your greens.  The payoff is far greater than the price.