Benefits of deep aeration at Kings Hill

Benefits of deep aeration at Kings Hill

Duncan Kelso, Course Manager at Kings Hill Golf Club has been using a Wiedenmann Terra Spike XP for the past 12 months and has been delighted with the improvement of the fairways at the 18-hole course, situated at West Malling in Kent.

The 700 member golf club is the centrepiece of a mixed commercial and residential development and was constructed 8 years ago on an old airfield with a rag stone sub-soil

"Because of the underlying nature of the soil, using a slitter was a non-starter", said Duncan. "We needed to aerate more effectively and efficiently to combat compaction and to improve the overall condition of the fairways so back in the Spring of 2003 we evaluated the Terra Spike. To ensure a fair evaluation we went to different depths at various locations around the course. We can go down to a maximum of 280mm (11") before we hit bedrock and to be fair the Terra Spike coped with ease.

We took delivery in October last year but due to the drought conditions couldn't begin work until November. We continued through until April, went twice around the course, initially to a depth of 150mm (6"), increasing to 280mm on the second lap and used eight sets of tines due to the nature of the soil. We applied around 5° of heave, which opened up the soil, relieved compaction aided root development and improved water penetration through the rootzone.

The benefits of the deep aeration have been excellent and when complemented with verti-cutting and lightweight fairway mowing the fairways have never looked in better condition."