Greens Venting

 

On April 30 and May 1st we vented the greens with Bayonet Tines.  These tines do minimal damage to our greens, but the benefits are huge!  Oxygen availability for our roots is critical--especially with all of the rain that we have had.  With the extreme wetness along with the amount of golfers, and our equipment on the greens each day, they become compacted.  Compaction limits water movement and air (oxygen) movement.  This causes less than optimal growing conditions and playing conditions.  Once the grass is "sliced" or vented, it allows for lateral growth because the rhizomes and stolons have become severed and thus they produce new shoots with fresh roots that make our putting surface much healthier.  I hope you enjoyed the video of the process.  The greens were mowed/groomed, then were vented.  Next, they were rolled, then cut/groomed once more.  This allowed minimal disruption to the putting surface, and all you noticed were the slits.  They were slightly bumpy the first day, but on day two ball roll was almost back to normal.  Each month we will use cross tines, bayonet tines in rotation as needed.  July 15th and 16th we will core aerify the greens with 1/2 inch tines and sand them.  This process will allow us to be more successful in the future.  I will be posting more information in the coming weeks/months on this process.  On a side note, we will begin topdressing our greens in the next few weeks.  This should allow a smoother more consistent putting surface, with improved putting speeds.