SISIS -

Steve Wright, CGCS, Director of Golf Course Maintenance at Boca West Country Club in Florida, is an enthusiastic advocate of deep slicing.

When he came to Boca West there was a serious lack of root on the greens due to nematodes, thatch and previous maintenance practices. Coring tines damaged the turf, with members complaining that the greens were always "torn up and bumpy". Things came to a head in the Summer of 2003 when it took a very long time to smooth the greens and Steve decided to try deep slicing, which he had done with great success on fairways for years.

He’s been doing it ever since – using a SISIS Multislit.

The Multislit is used monthly from March thru November, three times during May, July and September and often in 3 or 4 directions.

Steve says, "We haven’t cored the greens in 2 years. I have completely changed my thinking and programs for greens maintenance."

He is impressed with the Multislit’s performance and says "The depth you can go to and not heave, or make the green too soft, far exceeds what you can do with conventional aerifiers. I have been able to increase the frequency of aerifying without damaging the putting surface. We no longer get complaints – in fact we are more likely to be asked how we get the greens so good, so fast!"

Steve has obviously thought long and hard about coring and feels that a USGA spec green is designed not to compact – so why go in and remove sand, soften the green, then add more sand and attempt to brush it into the holes? He isn’t totally against coring, seeing it as essential on heavy, native soil greens – however he suspects that the Multislit would also be of benefit here too. He still cores his tees, fairways and rough which are not USGA spec. He top-dresses frequently after slicing and verticutting, seeing sand as the key to thatch control.

Steve summarises as follows:

"I have changed my thinking about coring and greens management. My programs no longer try the latest and greatest chemicals or fertilizers. Since I've started down this path I'm convinced that we have not yet discovered the "best way" to do anything. But we are really onto to something with the SISIS Multislit. Our surfaces are as good as anyone's. Please realize when I started here even the newer courses had many issues. We've changed them for the better using the Multislit. Now that I'm building new greens on a course, I can't wait to get my programs (Multislit included) on brand new greens from day one"

Boca West is a very beautiful private country club in Florida with 72 holes of championship golf. All the courses are parkland style with sandy soil and the two newer courses have USGA spec greens. Some greens are Tif-Eagle Bermudagrass, and some Tif-Dwarf Bermudagrass, but it is planned that by 2007 all will be Tif-Eagle.
We thank Boca West for their co-operation in preparing this article.
(Photo is a library photo of the Multislit and was not taken at Boca West.)