What is Hollow Tining?
Also known as hollow coring, our greenkeepers hollow tine golf courses (and many more sports pitches) to aerate the surface. We have the latest machinery to complete these services, which aerates the greens by inserting hollow tines up to a depth of 5”. The tines remove the ‘cores’ from the grass which are left until all of the turf has been hollow tined, our greenkeepers will then remove all of the cores and sweep sand into the remaining holes, known as top dressing.
Why Hollow Tine Greens?
Aeration is an essential part of golf green management and maintenance and hollow coring is one form of it. We also complete verti draining, another form of aeration, which uses solid tines instead of hollow ones, so no cores are removed. The reason why we place so much importance on aeration is that it ensures the quality of the turf is maintained at a high standard throughout the season. Golfers, both professional and amateur, are very focused on the turf quality when choosing where to play – this is because the surface of the green is so important as it can affect both the speed and direction of the ball if it’s not maintained properly. When we hollow tine greens, the percentage of air in the soil increases, encouraging healthy grass roots and allowing the release of unwanted gases out of the soil. Most importantly, these spaces in the soil help in the decompaction of the green. There are several more benefits such as removing thatch, improving the structure, better performance, keeping the surface dry and aiding water movement.
Why do greenkeepers top dress greens with sand?
Top dressing is an essential part of the hollow tining process, our greenkeepers do it because it helps dilute the layer of thatch below the surface of the turf, this improves the quality of the soil significantly whilst also helping with drainage. The surface becomes smoother and the grass can grow a lot better. If you don’t top dress your greens regularly, the turf can become uneven and overall disappointing to play on.
