Putting Surface
Reclamation
Simply
stated, our greens have shrunk. Over the
last year and a half there has been a lot of questioning on the various sizes
of our collars around the greens. Resent
discussions have determined that the greens have actually decreased in size
since the fairway re-grassing. At that
time, the collars were established at approximately 60 inches wide, which is
the width of the mower designated to cut these areas. 16 of our 19 collars have expanded from
inches up to 4 plus feet. This means the
putting surfaces have decreased by the same size.
In order to
reclaim the intended putting surface, we will need to measure and mark the
collars at the original 60 inches. Then,
we will have to mow the areas that are supposed to be part of the greens. The height of cut will need to be lowered
slowly over the ensuing weeks until it reaches the same height as the
greens. The weather is always one of the
largest variables when putting a plan like this into action. The time frame on achieving an end result of
smooth, expanded putting surfaces depends on the health of the grass as it is
placed under continued stress.
There is a
wide range of things that could happen.
Worst case scenario is death in the areas we are trying to train down to
greens height. Best case scenario is
expanded greens and uniform collars by June.
Since there always seems to be a little bad with all good things, my
recommendation is to fall somewhere in the middle. We have already started the process on #5 and
#9 so we have examples to show what the previous brain clutter is talking
about. I would encourage doing 2 more
this spring to get a good idea on the timing of the process and work out any
unforeseen issues. Then, in the fall we
can start working the rest down to greens height with a finish date
approximately a year from now.
#9 Green before
expansion
#9 Green after
expansion (first lowering of height of cut)
The yellowish,
narrower strip around the edge of the green is the area we have mowed.
This picture shows
how much #9 green has shrunk in a little over five years.
