Root knife from Aeritool 19/19/3 – 4 mm thick, slightly conical, 160 mm long.
The Toro Pro Core 648 was used at a depth of 6 – 7 cm with a distance of 6.3 cm.
Location: Kaiserhöhe golf course, weather: sunny, 32° C
Goals:
Aerate the greens with minimal disruption to the playing surface
Cut through horizontally running roots, runners and layers in the maintenance horizon to the desired depth
Improvement of water flow and soil wetting
My expectations of using these spoons have been fully met and even exceeded in terms of wear. After 30 greens the wear is minimal as you can see in the photo, I estimate that these spoons will survive another 5-7 rounds.
As you can see from the pictures, in the beginning, when the tips of the spoons weren’t sanded smooth, the slots were clearly visible and the further it went, the less the spoons affected the putt surface. After 3 practice greens, we continued on the 18-hole course and after direct rolling with True-Surface units for greens mowers, a tournament could be held in a few hours.
The next day, the greens were only combed through with scarifying units on the surface without going into the ground, mowed and rolled again directly before the upcoming tournament. The putting surface was perfect.
It is clear that these root knives are much better than cross or full spoons, which are used on the greens in the middle of the playing season, in all criteria.
These root knives are also preferable to the star rollers, which only penetrate the soil up to 2.5 – 3 cm and only with the tip of the star. One can select the cutting depth as required and it will cut full width down.
Despite hot weather, the cuts do not open like a continuous slit, and you can combat the water-repellent surfaces with the wetting agent much more effectively.
Wladimir Rommel,
Head greenkeeper at the Kaiserhöhe golf course
