In May, we leaped frog over spring and into summer weather with upper 80's/low 90's degree days. It is now time to begin venting the greens on a regular schedule. Venting? Yes, venting. There are various types of aeration practices. Core aeration will remove a column of soil, to be replaced with clean sand. Deep-tine aeration will create 8-9 inch deep channels throughout the profile. Venting is the practice of poking very small holes on the putting surface. The millions of vent holes allow warm soils to cool and allow fresh air to penetrate the soil. Creating these vent holes will help keep a fresh supply of oxygen to the turf roots. In a sense, the venting process allows the greens and soil to breathe better. The fresh air and deep-tine channels will promote deeper and more expansive root systems. The stronger the root system, the stronger the plant and the better it'll handle summer stresses. In addition, the small vent holes will provide wonderful mini-channels for irrigation and rain water to enter the soil profile.
Needle tines are used to vent the putting surfaces. ¼" diameter tines penetrate the surface to a depth of 2.5 inches on a 2 inch grid pattern.
The roller smoothes any "tufting" prior to the green is mowed and rolled in preparation for play.
The small black dot on the right side of the golf ball is a vent hole. Once the green is mowed and rolled, the vent holes are virtually invisible and do not affect putting quality.
The venting process will be performed weekly through the summer. However, only 6-7 greens will be scheduled per week. Therefore, each green will be vented on a 3 week schedule. This rotation will provide a valuable agronomic benefit while not interfering with any member or guest play and help Oconomowoc GC have fantastic putting surfaces.
