Venting the Greens

This Monday we took the opportunity to "Vent" our greens with small holes.  These holes are very advantageous this time of year for allowing water and oxygen to easily get down to the roots of the grass.  This process has a very minimal effect on the putting quality and is usually hard to tell anything has been done other than the sight of small holes throughout the green.  We try and do this process every 3 weeks or so in the summer time to help combat hot, stressful weather conditions.  The process is to punch the holes with solid 1/4 inch metal tines, and then roll the greens immediately after to smooth the surface and rid of any imperfections.  Please take a look at the following pictures to get an idea of how this process works.