We vented greens and collars this week to allow for gas exchange and better water penetration in heat stressed areas, along with relieving surface compaction. Venting is aerifying with small (.25") diameter solid tines that penetrate up to 3" deep. The process involves mowing the green first, then venting, followed by rolling to smooth any imperfections on the putting surface. We typically perform this process several times during the summer in addition to our traditional core aerifications in the spring and fall. Most golfers don't even notice we did anything since the process causes very little surface disruption.
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| We use our regular greens aerifier outfitted with 60, .25" diameter solid tines spaced 1.5" apart. This setup creates 72 holes per square foot, which sounds like a lot, but only affects 2.75% of the greens surface area. |
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| This picture was taken prior to rolling so the holes look more pronounced. |
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| The tool in this picture is a soil probe that removes a small core from the green that is checked for moisture content. The probe is laying on a patch of Bentgrass on one of our greens. The turf around the Bentgrass is Annual Bluegrass (Poa annua). The greens were originally seeded and grown in with Bentgrass in the mid 90's, but the Poa eventually got a foothold and has become the dominant turf. Poa does not like hot temperatures or high humidity, and needs a lot of TLC in this kind of weather. |
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