Smooth Sweeping

This morning we took the opportunity to get out and try our new greens sweeper. The "Sweep-N-Fill" is a pretty neat tool that we were able to purchase this past fall. With the cold weather this winter we had held off from using it until now as the soil temperatures have warmed up and the greens are looking pretty dense.
The Sweep-N-Fill was designed as a tool to help incorporate top-dressing sand into the turf canopy. Using its two brushes (that rotate in an opposite direction than it is traveling) the sand is forced into the canopy better than a normal greens brush.
Another use for this tool is to help lift the turf more upright before the greens are mowed to help smooth out the surface for a truer roll on the greens. This morning Tom jumped out ahead of the greens mower and tried it out for the first time. We chose to sweep in straight lines as opposed to sweep in circles since some of the greens were still a little wet from the rains this past week. With great success we were able to really get a lot of the turf to stand up and get a good cut on the greens. Tomorrow we will mow and roll the greens for some great conditions on this Masters weekend. This is definitely a process we will continue throughout the spring and summer with or without sand.



Here's a picture of the Sweep-N-Fill. I forgot to get a picture during operation so I'll try to get a video of it in action next time we have it out.
- Posted by Austin Daniells, Golf Course Superintendent