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More sand with solid tine aeration?

I came across this on twitter this morning.


And then this rely:

This got me thinking about what I have noticed on my course. For the past few years we haven't been pulling a core and I also noticed that we were able to get about 30% more sand into our greens at aeration time but never really though much of it as it relates to solid vs core aeration.

I think that when we core, it is difficult to get the entire plug removed. This leaves some of the holes still partially filled with soil/sand and reduces the amount of sand we can get into the hole. Getting a good core is dependant on a lot of factors. Getting a good tine penetration is dependent on a lot less.

When we solid tine, we get a more consistent depth because we are not leaving behind any material, we are simply smashing the tine in and spreading the soil apart. We can then get a more reliable hole depth, and therefore, more sand into our profile.


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