Since the member / guest is underway here at beautiful BCC, I thought I would give the ingredients necessary to have fast greens. First of all, the greens need to be dry, a well hydrated grass plant will not yield fast greens because it is thick and puffy. Also, a dry green is a firm green which also reduces friction on the golf ball as it rolls across the green. Last, to groom, verticut or brush the greens to get every grass plant to stand up and not lay over, this also reduces friction and increases ball roll. Putting the roller on the greens smooths out any inconsistencies and again reduces friction between the ball and the green. So really to have fast greens, it is not even that necessary to mow if the plant is under a growth regulator, which we apply weekly. In today's golf course management world, we do not even associate mowing or double cutting with fast greens speed, as it is not that necessary with the advances in rolling equipment and growth regulators. Less mowing is also beneficial in reducing stress on the greens which can facilitate diseases and cause more chemicals to be applied to combat the disease. The bottom line is dry, groomed and rolled greens is the way to produce stimp meter readings over the 11 feet mark.
Mike O'Neill
Golf Course Superintendent
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