There’s something quietly satisfying about the hum of heavy equipment just after sunrise. The first rays of desert light stretch over Mountain View, and all you hear is the rhythmic buzz of verticut blades meeting soil, a sign we’re on the right track.

This July, following the seasonal closure of our Mountain View course, we undertook an intensive greens recovery initiative focused on removing the mutated turf areas that had limited our ability to mow to our standard heights. These problematic patches led to scalping and inconsistent playability, two things no superintendent wants on their greens.

Our team performed eight passes of verticutting at 1/4″ depth, followed by a 1/2″ solid tine aerification and heavy topdressing. This comprehensive approach was designed to remove the thatch and mutated growth, open the soil profile, and prepare a fresh surface that could eventually be mowed uniformly and maintained at optimal conditions.

We repeated this exact process just ten days ago. The results? Remarkable. As of this morning, the greens are nearly ready for their first mow, an important milestone that confirms our timeline for full recovery is right on track.

This maintenance window also gave us the opportunity to rejuvenate fairway turf using fraize mowing, which removes the upper layer of thatch and lateral growth, encouraging denser, healthier turf.

The comparison between July 14th, fraize mowing day, and July 31st speaks for itself. The photo progression on #1 fairway shows not just regrowth, but revitalization. Within 17 days, the surface has gone from raw and exposed to vibrant and playable. It’s a visual reminder of what turf can do when given the chance to reset.