Among world-renown beaches, blossoming real estate, and unmatched weather, more and more people flock to South Florida each year for the many signature golf courses. St. Andrews Country Club offers 36 holes of championship golf, including its Arnold Palmer Signature Design® with rolling fairways and berms, terraced greens with deep bunkers, and testy water hazards. Maintaining Florida courses like these is anything but a walk in the park, requiring a tedious golf course aerification process. Find out more about this process currently underway at St. Andrews from the Director of Golf, Paul Clivio.
Primarily we aerify for thatch removal. Over time, water sits on the Green’s surface and nutrients don’t get to where they need to, leading to an undesirable spongy surface similar to a scalp. Despite the observed benefits of aerification, however, the process can be stressful on turf when performed under pressure such as heat and shade or on turf in bad health. St. Andrews has identified the best schedule for each course’s aerification with these ideals in mind.
There are many moving parts to course closures for aerification: removing thatch, top-dressing with sand, scalping the turf down to a brown color and re-growth. These are all part of the cultural practices that must be performed in South Florida for a golf course to perform on a year-round basis. This is also the most crucial part of growing healthy turfgrass throughout the entire golfing season. Our aerification process will include:
Fairway Verticutting
Fairway Verticutting has been performed on the Fazio to remove the older leaf blades and tighten the canopy for next season. The Fairways are then scalped at a lower height of cut to compress the plant and promote more undergrowth, reducing the friction and holding onto desired Green speeds until the Palmer Course aerification begins in mid-June. You will see the lines on the Greens but ball roll should not be affected with this routine practice.
Topdressing and Aerifying
Topdressing is then performed to help promote the firm and fast Fairways that are desired.
We then Aerify on top of the sand, where we purposely redistribute the organic material.
Aerification on Greens also takes place allowing the methane gasses to escape from a season’s worth of fertilizer applications and helps to combat compaction. Needless to say, it takes a lot of labor!
Recovery
Recovery may be the largest part of the process though it is critical to growing healthy Bermudagrass each year. Above is a Dry-Ject sand channel shot through the organic layer in the Fazio Greens. This is what allows the Greens roots to find oxygen easier.
After a strenuous aefication process like this, it’s no wonder the legendary Arnold Palmer and PGA pros Phil Mickelson, Ken Duke, John Daly, and Rocco Mediate love to play exhibitions here. With all our summer annuals having been installed around the Clubhouse Grounds and quick turnarounds, St. Andrews members can look forward to the reopening of our signature courses throughout the summer.
St. Andrews Country Club offers a vibrant, top-quality lifestyle and has done so for more than 30 years. Its distinctions include a “Distinguished Club of the World” and a “Top Ten Healthiest Clubs in America,” and its world-class amenities make life a permanent vacation. With superior amenities, including two 18-hole championship golf courses and virtually no tee times. It is home to LPGA touring professional and resident Morgan Pressel. Aaron Krickstein, formerly ranked No. 6 in the world, oversees the tennis program and 14 clay courts. The Club offers a full service, award-winning spa & salon, fitness center, four restaurants, three pools, Kids Club, playground, air-conditioned game rooms and catering space for up to 350. Their location within Boca Raton puts them near some of the city’s highlights, ranging from Florida Atlantic University, the Wick Theatre, and some of Florida’s best beaches.
For more information about the enviable lifestyle at St. Andrews Country Club sign up here for a complimentary copy of our digital brochure, showcasing the premier lifestyle available at St. Andrews.
