How long does it take for aeration to finish up?

[nevets88]

If a green gets top and rolled, how long does it take to get back to normal? I think it's a couple of weeks, no? Thanks.

[chingali]

It depends on a couple of different things, how aggressive the aeration has been (sometimes they'll use little cores and sometimes big ones) and the growing conditions such as weather at the time it is done. Usually within a few weeks things are pretty good and a month later it'll be back to normal.

One tip for putting during this period, always take a few seconds to wipe your ball and putterface clean before putting, a little bit of sand in the impact zone can wreak absolute havoc on distance control!

[Dub]

Went to a course on Thursday that had just been done the day before. It was ugly. They took huge plugs and had sanded heavily. The pro there said it'd be a month or so before it was smooth again.

Rained real heavy last night...not sure how that will impact the recovery....suspect it'll speed it up some.

[MrKadash]

There is no set time. I assume everyone knows the impact the weather has on such a project.

Much depends on how well the job was done. Core size is a factor, but it's equally as important how well the clean up went and if the holes were uniformly filled to enhance smoothness. Hopefully the green(s) that were done were in good shape and well nourished before the job began which will make the recovery period shorter. I almost always use fertilizer when finished in one form or another in varying rates depending on what will hasten recovery the quickest. I've seen greens with no visual evidence that the job was done in 10 days at the minimum, with 21-28 days the norm. Then again, I've played courses when the job was just done, and came back to play again over a month later to still find evidence. It's all dependent on the growing medium, and the type of grass present. Bentgrass and Bermuda benefits from lateral growth, while poa annua takes longer as it is a bunch type growth habit.

This is only through my experiences, note it is not an exact science.