Repairing and Maintaining a Golf Course: What’s Involved?

Because of the amount of use a traditional golf course sees, it goes without saying that it requires maintenance and repairs on a regular basis.  Without these two things being completed, the course can become irreversibly damaged, and the surface of the course can deteriorate leading to poor playing conditions and further problems.  The most common types of damage include:

  • Erosion damage
  • Impact damage
  • Compacted ground
  • Patchy and thin grass cover
  • Damage to the grass surface due to scrapes and pitch marks

Below is a list of some of the most common repair and maintenance tasks for the fairway.

Maintaining Divots

Divots are often left in the surface after a round of golf is played.  However, while these are normal, it’s vital that they are maintained correctly to ensure an even and weed free green.  Luckily, repairing divots is a common maintenance task and not one that takes much time.  A mix of sand and grass seed is usually used to plug the divot holes, with the mixture being compacted down by foot until it lies flat with the rest of the course.  Any divots that have been left for a long time may need to be weed treated before the sand and grass mixture can be used.

Dealing with Erosion

Golf courses that are located close to the sea, as well as those on hilly terrain, often have to deal with erosion.  And, in many cases, one of the most impacted areas are the paths.  While there’s little you can do to prevent natural issues like erosion from occurring, there are steps that can be put in place to make the damage less frequent.  For example, when working on the pathway repair for Erin Hills golf course, a course also affected by erosion, Kafka Granite opted to replace the current walkways with a wax polymer mix.  Not only is wax polymer aesthetically pleasing, but it’s a more durable material that is better able to withstand erosion.

Aerification

Aerification is something that most golfers dread; in fact, many say there’s nothing worse than turning up at their favorite course only to discover it covered in sand or full of little holes.  However, aerification is an extremely important part of golf course maintenance and one that has to be done in order for golf courses to remain playable and in great shape long into the future.  Aerification helps to ensure the roots of the course are healthy and that the soil isn’t compacted.  This is something that happens naturally over time due to the number of people walking over the surface.  It also helps to remove leaves and other debris from the course, which are fine in small amounts, but in large can lead to infection and decay.

Of course, there are lots of other things involved in the maintenance and repair of a golf course, including turfing, seeding, plugging and patching, and repairing pitch marks.  The three described above are the most essential.