OUR BLOG

Andrew Young’s story is a familiar one for those of us in the golf course industry.

His passion for golf started at age 14 when he signed on at the local golf course. There, he picked weeds and did all the other fun jobs expected of young boys working a course. He became so enamored (somehow the weeding didn’t scare him away!) with the industry that, in college he pursued a degree in turf management.

Eventually, his golf career led him to Woodbine Bend Golf Course where he’s been the superintendent for the past three years.

Woodbine Bend is a links-styled course located in Stockton, Illinois, Young’s hometown. Before using Holganix, the course suffered from a thick thatch layer.

“I wanted to minimize the thatch layer and that’s one of the reasons why I started using Holganix,” says Young. “It’s been helping.”

Two years into the Holganix program, Young has been pleased with the results, especially with rooting and aeration. “The healing time after aerifying has decreased since using Holganix,” claims Young.

Typically, it would take the course 2 weeks to heal but with Holganix, he’s been able to reduce it to about 1 week with a 14 ounce per 1,000 sq ft application following aerification.

“And my roots? They are just crazy!” exclaims Young. “You can’t even see soil,” says Young. “All you see are white, healthy roots.”

Young reports seeing 12+ inch roots on his fairways in July. His greens have 6+ inch roots but are extremely dense and holding together nicely.

He notes that the major storms in Illinois recently are negatively affecting root growth and expects it to be much longer in the fall. “When it comes to the roots, the longer the better,” says Young.