Un-aerified Greens

We aerified the greens on Monday using the tiny, 1/4" tines.  However, when you play the course, you might wonder if we forgot to aerify part of a few greens, since the back half of #6, 12, and 15 were not cored.

Actually, leaving half of these greens un-aerified was done quite purposefully.  In our quest to determine the cause of Bentgrass etiolation/Bacterial Wilt, we are leaving untreated areas in most every practice we perform this season. 

There are several theories as to what is causing Bacterial Wilt on golf course greens, and one of these is that mechanical stress to the turf can induce symptoms.  While aerification of the greens clearly has great long-term benefits, the actual process can also be stressful to the turf in the short run. 

If these areas do not show signs of Bacterial Wilt, where other parts of the green do, it may indicate that the initial stress of aerification prior to the summer heat, triggers this disease.  On the other hand, if the un-aerified parts of the green do exhibit symptoms of Bacterial Wilt, then we might theorize that the long-term benefits of aerification can help ward off this disease.

The back half of #15 left as an un-aerified check plot.