‘Drill n Fill’ aeration used to good effect on Spanish golf course

By Alistair July 5, 2017 12:50 Updated

Now that the rain has come, you may find that your greens’ surfaces are puddling and slow to drain. Members are frustrated and the prospect of winter closures looms large.

Drill n Fill aeration is the obvious solution for persistent drainage problems involving slow percolation of surface water to the drainage layer and inherent rootzone issues, but sometimes a build-up of thatch is the culprit. Thatch on the top inch of a green will stop water draining down and even block a Drill n Fill duct eventually. If water can be moved through this top inch, greens will remain playable.

Ecosol Turfcare has the perfect bit of kit to facilitate this and it’s available on contract hire with an operator. The Graden Sand Injector is a linear aerator which rips out the thatch from 12 per cent of the soil surface and injects sand into the 40mm deep grooves. Soil exchange can be enhanced by mixing sand with soil amendments. Overseeding can be carried out simultaneously.

The Graden is a gentle pedestrian machine and can be used all the year round, even when greens are damp. For a ‘belt and braces’ approach to greens drainage, the Graden can be used immediately after Drill n Fill, a process that has recently been used to good effect at Aloha-golf, Marbella, Spain where Ecosol Drill n Filled the whole course, then followed up with the Graden. Many UK clubs alternate the two processes year on year with good effect.

An alternative process is the Graden’s big brother, Sand-Filler, a tractor mounted linear aerator and sand injector machine which cuts through organic matter on the green surface, inserting grooves to a depth of 40mm and can follow green contours.