Green speeds

Happy Holidays to everyone that follows our blog, I hope you enjoy time with loved ones during the weeks ahead and an opportunity to step back from the busyness of the season to reflect on what's important. 

Thank you to all the members for a great year, we appreciate all the feedback we received this year.  We're making plans to have another successful year in 2015, building upon what we've been able to accomplish in the recent years.

Last week I spent a few days at a regional conference administered by the Ohio Turfgrass Foundation.  I was able to attend over 10 seminars with topics ranging from Perennial Flowers to Equipment Maintenance.  The seminar I enjoyed the most was the topic of green speed.  With our greens currently rolling at a whopping 5' when they're not froze, and it now being the time of year that no one cares about the speed of the greens, I thought I would throw this at you for a good read:

We all hear those comments every once in while, they have been surfacing for the last 10 years or so:  "I remember when our greens were so fast, the greens now aren't as fast as what I remember way back when"  I always chuckle a little when I hear this, because we know the history of green speeds, sometimes an individual's memories are what they want them to be, perception isn't always reality. 

I have no doubts that speeds were fast back in the 70's or 80's, in fact you may have had the fastest greens around at the Club you called home.  But what was fast?  Can we compare green speeds from back then to today's green speeds?  Is the perception sometimes that greens were faster back then?

Here are the facts:

• In today's world, 11 on the stimpmeter is considered fast and greens are cut lower then ever, sometimes at .110" or even lower.
• In 2000, 10 on the stimp was considered fast and greens were most commonly cut at .120"
• In 1990, 9 on the stimp was considered fast and greens were most commonly cut at .150"
• In 1980, 8 on the stimp was considered fast and greens were commonly cut at .170"
• And in 1970, 7 on the stimpmeter was considered fast and greens were most commonly cut around .200"
• In 1976 - 1977 the average green speed was 6.5' and over 7.5' was considered "excitingly fast" by the USGA
• Green speeds from the 1920's through the 1970's didn't change much.
• In 1978 the US Open green speed was 9'
• In 2014 the US Open green speed was around 13' all four days

So, if green speeds were relatively the same from the 20's to the 70's, what changed?  A couple things: First, the USGA produced the first aluminum stimpmeter and started using it as a tool to measure greens speeds.  Second, an article was released by the USGA in 1977 titled "How Fast are your Greens"  this kind of got the ball rolling, pun intended!  As the demand for increased speed gained traction, technology followed.  We now have mowers that can mow grass at crazy low heights, improved grass varieties for those growing bentgrass, improved turf health technology and bettter watering practices.

Naturally, things will improve, but green speeds have really jumped in the last 4 decades.  The point to ponder is when do we say that's it, no more speed, let's play this game as it sits.  We all know that we can't keep improving on this measure, we can never attain speeds of 16' for example without having to re-sod all the greens the following year.  So I see the urge for faster greens slowing way down during the next 10 years and settling into maintaining what is found to be the best speed for those greens that we maintain.

While speed is an important part of the game and how the greens are played, emphasis should transition over to other factors as the speed of the greens can no longer improve. We should use terms such as: firm, true, consistent, enjoyable, uniform, dense and receptive.  I think our current Grounds Committee has really done a great job of seeing this and setting a rational and practical goal for our greens.  Our current Standard Operating Procedure for greens states:  Objective – Greens are to be maintained healthy, smooth and firm with greens speeds between 10.0’ - 10.5’ as measured by a stimpmeter from May 15^th through September 15^th with a high importance put on consistency. 

The next time you hear a golfer enlighten you on how fast the greens were back in the days, just remind them that they my be correct, the 8' they were rolling would have been the fastest greens around, but they are nothing compared to what we can make these greens do now!

Happy Holidays!

Preparing for a Major - what does it take?

With the final round of the U.S. Open played yesterday and with the excitement of a Major on every one's mind, I thought I would highlight some of the work that goes on behind the scenes.

Anytime a course has to prepare for an event, especially a Major, planning is done years in advance, infrastructure is updated, staff is trained, volunteers are recruited and equipment is purchased.  During the year of a Major the daily grounds staff numbers around 40-50.  During the week of the tournament, volunteers are brought in and that number goes above 100.  All these workers need equipment to run as well.  Extra mowers and carts are brought in to manicure the course for the worlds elite.

Course conditions are molded to peak during the time of the tournament.  Green speeds run high, fairways and tees are cut daily; and greens are mowed four times a day.  Conditions such as this can only be maintained for a brief while, going back to normal after the tournament.

Below are two links that describe briefly what has to be done and how tournament prep is different from daily play at your local Club.

Link to article

Link to video

During the summer of 2005 I had the privilege of volunteering for the PGA Championship at Baltusrol Golf Club in NJ.  I was able to spend the entire week there, working not only during the practice rounds but also all four days of the tournament.  Those of you who have attended a Major know there is nothing like it, the atmosphere is electric.  Being able to prepare the course for that event is even more exciting.

The morning meetings started at 4:30 a.m.  Daily announcement were given, then off to work.  Our tasks were the same everyday, giving consistency to the product.  Our morning work was complete by 8:30 a.m.  We then had the day to ourselves to watch golf and nap.  We were back to work at 4:00 p.m and finishing up at 11:00.

This is a look at the morning job board.  Because I was there all week, I was given the job of mowing greens.

They had a huge fleet of equipment to handle the work load.

The three Mechanics loaded up all the equipment every morning and night, making sure everything was in working order and everyone had what they needed.  Staff from local equipment vendors were brought in to help repair machinery at a moments notice if needed.

A new utility vehicle was purchased and equipped with anything a mechanic might possibly need to repair a machine out in the field - complete with welder and halogen lights for repairs during the night.

This was one of the two greens I mowed for the Championship, quite rewarding watching the best players in the world putting over the lines you mowed a few hours before.

We even had a chance to say hello to the players, Tiger was giving us a hard time while we were raking bunkers during the practice round - something about the rough being to tall.

 

Opening when?

The Pro-shop has been getting a fair amount of questions on when we will be opening.  I can not give a definite answer on that.  Typically we don't know until 3-4 days before we open.  The rule of thumb has been to mow the greens 2 times before we open, allowing the grass to come out of dormancy before we subject it to traffic and injury from ball marks.  If we maintain this rule, I don't foresee us opening in the next ten days.  The temps next week will still be in the 30's and the greens have not begun to grow yet.  I will let you know when the course will open as soon as I feel comfortable with the weather.  Just a reminder that we do have temp pins out in the approaches on holes 1, 2, 7, 10, 11 and 12.  Feel free to get a few swings in when we get those 50 degree sunny days.

August 27th Aerification

I know it is a little early to start talking about August, but a few questions have been raised about the neccessity of aerifying the golf course in the the last week of August.  Why in the middle of the season?  What about the outings to follow?  Why are the greens being aerified three times this year?

We are scheduled to aerify greens, tees and fairways on August 27th.  This is consistent with the timing in the past few years, nothing has changed.  The last few weeks in August and the first few weeks in September are the best times to aerify in this region.  The summer stress is diminishing, but the temps are still up and we still have longer days to expidite recovery.  If we moved aerification to a later date, we run the risk of the cores not drying out because of the shorter days and the cooler temps.  And if the cores don't dry out, we can't drag them in and clean off the surfaces.  We would then be left wtih a muddy mess and a very long recovery period.

Every function and outing is important to us.  We try our best to look at all scenarios when deciding to aerify.  As far as the outings and members functions that follow aerification, most notably the Member Guest Day on Septmber 13 and the Member Appreciation Day on September 16, we will be in good shape by then.  It has been my experience that the holes are completely healed within 21 days and after 14 days, they look and play resonable.  In the eyes of golfers, there is never a good time to aerify.  It always seems that when the golf course is just reaching its peak, we punch holes in everything.  We will have some great course conditions this year, it won't be just the week leading up to August 27th that will good.  Also, without the proper aerification, it would never peak.

As far as to why we are aerifying greens three times a year, this has to do with our soil structure.  We have poor water infiltration rates and a lack of air space in the soil.  In other words, we are behind the 8 ball with our soils and we need to catch up.  With out the proper drainage and air movement, roots will die back and the greens will suffer.  In the interest of the short term and long term health of the greens, we must aerfify three times a year.  Again, this is consistent with what has been done in the recent past.

When are we opening?

With the mild winter that we have been experiencing, there has been some discussion of when the golf course will be open.  My main concern is the green's ability to recovery from the traffic that will result from the usage.  If the grass is not actively growing on the green, it can't recover or heal.  Therefore we will open the golf course after we have mowed the greens twice.  As temperatures increase and hover around 50 degrees, it will only take a few more weeks.  But if the nights stay cool and it consistently dips below freezing, the grass will stay dormant and we will have to hold off on opening the course.