Maintaining Our Greens

Description

To maintain superior playing conditions on our greens, we employ several different practices, including weekly topdressing, daily mowing and daily rolling. While these practices are advantageous for the greens, they put stress on the collars surrounding the putting surfaces. Topdressing sand is very course and becomes very abrasive when combined with daily turning. This leads to bruising of the plant leaf tissue and eventually complete deterioration.

To eliminate wear and tear on our collars from turning mowers, we place a lightweight lattice material on top of the collars before mowing. The lattice is durable and flexible enough to allow the greens mower to ride up on the surface and turn, thus eliminating turning on the collar itself.

Implementation

The lattice is purchased from a local hardware store and cut into 3ft x 6ft strips. The greens mower operator carries it with him as he walks the greens mower from his cart to the green. He then places the lattice on top of the collars. Greens mowing proceeds as usual with turning taking place on top of the lattice.

After implementing this technique, our collars recovered and are healthier than ever. We no longer have thin spots and we have been able to continue with our aggressive cultural programs.

Members have also taken notice with many commenting on the improved look and playability of our collars.