Harper Lin
Maintaining golf greens is a complex and time-consuming process that requires a lot of effort and specialised equipment. The grass on golf courses is cut using reel mowers, which create a scissor-like action that clips the grass. The height of the cut grass is adjusted by changing the difference between the front and rear rollers. The grass on golf courses is typically cut very short, with the mowing height for an average golf green being about 0.125 inches. This has decreased over time due to golfers' demands for faster greens, with grass heights now as low as 0.100 inches. Maintaining the grass at this height requires daily mowing, watering, fertilisation, and the use of fungicides, pesticides, and herbicides.
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What You'll Learn
Golf course mowers
Golf course superintendents and groundskeepers use a variety of mowers to maintain the fairways, greens, and tees. These mowers are designed to meet the specific challenges of golf course maintenance, such as mowing on steep slopes, minimising damage to the turf, and reducing trimming and weed-eating.
One popular option is the Ventrac golf course mower, which is designed to maximise value and set benchmarks in performance for golf courses. Its patented controls make it safer and easier to drive, even on challenging terrain. The Ventrac 84" Contour Mower, for example, features three independent decks that gently float over slopes and dips, preventing scalping and gouging of the turf. It can operate on slopes up to 30 degrees and provides a fairway finish at a lower cost compared to other contour mowers. The Ventrac MR770 Triplex Reel Mower is another versatile machine with a 74" width of cut, variable speed hydraulics, and offset capability, making it ideal for trimming around water features.
The John Deere brand also offers a range of golf course equipment, including walk-behind green mowers, turf sprayers, utility vehicles, and aeration equipment. Their products are designed to address the unique needs of golf courses and sports turf management.
Additionally, Toro offers electric-powered mowers and equipment to help reduce engine exhaust emissions and noise pollution, allowing golf courses to maintain their natural harmony with the surroundings.
The choice of mower depends on various factors, including the terrain, budget, and specific maintenance requirements of the golf course. It is essential to select the right machine for each task to ensure optimal results and efficiency in golf course maintenance.
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Grass seed selection
Historically, putting greens were naturally maintained at shorter heights due to sheep grazing on them for extended periods. Today, golf course superintendents primarily use two types of grass: Bermuda grass and bentgrass. Bentgrass is commonly used in colder northern climates, while Bermuda grass is prevalent in warmer southern regions. Both grass varieties can withstand very short mowing heights, providing a superior rolling surface for golf balls.
When selecting grass seed, it is essential to consider the specific requirements of the golf course and the desired playing experience. For example, golfers increasingly demand faster greens, which has led to the trend of lowering grass heights to around 0.100 inches, providing a Stimpmeter rating of approximately 10 feet. This pursuit of faster greens places significant pressure on greenskeepers and golf course architects to balance playability and turf health.
In addition to grass type and desired green speed, other factors come into play. These include soil physics, soil biology, cultivation practices, irrigation, and fertilization. Proper soil physics and biology are crucial to ensuring healthy root systems and optimal water absorption. Cultivation practices, such as aeration and top dressing, help maintain soil health and promote grass growth. Adequate irrigation and fertilization are also essential to providing the necessary water and nutrients for grass health and recovery from frequent mowing and rolling.
Lastly, the selection of grass seed should consider the level of maintenance required to achieve the desired results. Lowering the mowing height and increasing rolling frequency can lead to increased stress on the turf, necessitating more sophisticated maintenance techniques and higher costs. Therefore, a comprehensive understanding of grass seed characteristics and maintenance requirements is vital to making an informed selection for golf greens.
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Watering and fertilising
Golf course superintendents are responsible for ensuring that the turfgrass receives adequate nutrients to stay healthy. Nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium (NPK) are the three most important nutrients required by turfgrass. Fertilisers, which can be man-made or organic, are applied in granular form or sprayed onto the turfgrass to promote growth.
Liquid fertilisers, applied through dedicated sprayers or fertigation (injecting fertilisers through the irrigation system), are commonly used to maintain steady turf growth on fairways, tees, and roughs. Fertigation is especially useful during periods of high rainfall when other methods may be less effective.
Some superintendents, like Jeff Hevey of Dutch Elm Golf Club, have transitioned from granular to liquid fertilisers to meet the heightened expectations for putting surface quality. Hevey also employs fertigation on tees, fairways, and roughs, while primarily using a foliar program on the greens, where he carefully manages nitrogen application.
The frequency of watering and fertilising is crucial to achieving the desired results. Golf courses typically water the greens daily and fertilise weekly, requiring a significant amount of effort and resources to maintain the pristine turf conditions expected by golfers.
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Mowing height
To achieve these low mowing heights, golf courses use specialised reel mowers instead of the traditional rotary mowers commonly used for lawns. Reel mowers create a scissor-like cutting action, allowing for precise and low cuts. The cut height is adjusted by altering the difference between the front and rear rollers of the reel mower. This adjustment is crucial, as even a minuscule difference in height can lead to a noticeable decline in putting quality.
Maintaining reel mowers is labour-intensive and costly. The reels have multiple blades, typically ranging from 11 to 15, that require regular sharpening to ensure a precise cut. Superintendents use feeler tape to gauge the clearance between the reel and the bed knife, ensuring accuracy down to a thousandth of an inch. Additionally, the blades need to be ground to razor sharpness by specialised technicians several times a year due to wear and tear from debris, sand, and general usage.
While lowering the mowing height increases green speed, it also stresses the grass. Every small reduction in height reduces the photosynthetic potential of the grass, leading to thinning and eventual death over time. Therefore, superintendents must carefully balance golfers' demands for faster greens with the health of the grass.
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Maintenance
Maintaining golf greens is a complex and time-consuming process that requires a lot of effort and specialised equipment. The process begins with the selection of the right grass seed, which is typically Bermuda grass or bentgrass. Bentgrass is more suited to colder climates in the North, while Bermuda grass is more common in warmer, southern regions. Both varieties can be cut very short without difficulty and provide a superior rolling surface.
Once the grass has been established, it must be mowed and watered daily. Fertilisation is also an important aspect of maintenance, with some superintendents reducing nitrogen levels to slow the growth rate of the grass. To achieve the desired grass height, special mowers are used. Golf course mowers are reel mowers, which create a scissor-like action that allows for a very low cut. The cut height is adjusted by changing the difference between the front and rear rollers, and it is crucial that this is precise to ensure the quality of the putting green.
The blades of the mowers must be regularly maintained and sharpened, as they can wear down due to debris, sand, tiny stones, and general usage. Special technicians are often required to grind the blades to razor sharpness several times a year. In addition to mowing, rolling is an important aspect of green maintenance. The greens are typically rolled two to five times a week right after mowing to increase the speed.
Other maintenance tasks include aeration, top dressing, and testing. Fungicides, pesticides, and herbicides are also used to maintain the health of the green by preventing disease, insect damage, and weed growth. Overall, maintaining golf greens requires a fine balance between various factors to ensure a healthy and high-quality playing surface.
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Frequently asked questions
Golf course mowers are reel mowers, not rotary like most lawn mowers used at home. Reel mowers create a scissor-like action where the turfgrass leaves are clipped by the crossing of two cutting edges.
Golf greens are cut daily, and for a PGA tournament, they are cut twice in the morning and twice in the evening.
The mowing height for an average golf green was about 0.125 inches, but due to demand, grass heights have lowered to around 0.100 inches.
Reel mowers require regular maintenance. The blades must be sharpened often and can be adjusted down to thousands of an inch. Special technicians grind the blades to razor sharpness several times a year.
The greens must be watered and fertilized constantly, and aerated on a regular basis. There is also the use of fungicides, pesticides, and herbicides to keep the grass healthy.
