She is in charge....

It has been a few weeks since I teased our audience by saying the next post will cover green speed. "Green Speed" is a sexy topic for golfers as they hear about fast greens on tour and most players think they like fast greens. I had the post written in my head weeks ago but have been tossing around the title for weeks. I thought "speed kills", "the need for speed" or even "how low can you go" in reference to shorter mowing heights but settled on "She Is In Charge.....".

Who is she you may ask? Is it Wendy from our staff who often rolls or mows our greens? No, it is that often cursed fickle woman Mother Nature who gives you good golf conditions one day and just as quickly she can take them away. Although the weather has a major impact on ball roll and putting conditions but we humans also have our say. So why are the greens faster one day then the next or one year to the next? I will try to explain this complicated topic and how it effects your game at Rolling Meadows.

The stimpmeter designed by golfer Edward Stimpson in 1935, is a machined tool
to release a ball at a consistent height or release point. 3 balls are released and then from the
point those balls stop 3 balls are released the opposite direction to achieve a average greenspeed.
The stimpmeter allows a measurement of green speed from green to green. 

Mowing height is a key component to green speed but certainly not the only factor. We mow greens at .120 or just under a 1/8" during the main season with heights of .140 or 9/64 in the shoulder season. The height of cut determines how much grass your ball is rolling on, the less grass, the less friction, the faster the putt; in theory anyway because there are many more factors to it.

• It takes consistent mowing for the height to be reached on a green due to the fact the grass is always growing and the rollers that set the height ride on the very grass we are trying to mow. For instance if we were to take a greens mower onto a tee mowed at 1/2" it would take multiple mowing to reach 1/8" even though that is the bench setting of the mower. It is why greens are mowed multiple times on tournament courses or you may see us mowing greens a second time in the afternoon during grass growth surges. 
• 1/8" on our Jacobsen Greenskings is not exactly the same as 1/8" on a Jacobsen walking mower or Toro and John Deere mowers. That is why it is difficult to simply compare mowing heights from course to course because the type of mower and how it is setup varies. 
• The greens at the recent U.S. Open were mowed 2 to 4 times per day at .09" to reach the consistent green conditions for the worlds best players. The speeds were listed at 13 to 13.5 on the stimpmeter. 
• Then why doesn't everyone mow at .09 if that is good enough for US Open conditions? Some courses do but the lower the height of cut the less room for error and more time is spent monitoring and caring for the greens. More time correlates to increased labor costs and higher green fees. At .120" we can provide good greens with a consistent ball roll through most of the season. We know a couple of our customers would enjoy a green speed of 12' but many of our customers would struggle on our contoured greens. Our greens average a speed of 9' to 10' but can be faster on dry windy days and slower during growth spurts. Yesterday they were 10'4" under dry conditions and after being topdressed Monday. On the fast side for us but still enjoyable. 
• Height of cut is only one of many factors in green speed. 

When Homer Fieldhouse designed our greens in 1970 6'6" was
considered a medium green speed for daily play. The faster our
greens putt the higher the challenge which will lead to more putts
and slower rounds. 

Surface smoothness is the other key component to green speed. Smoother greens allow the ball to roll without interruption or bouncing that would reduce speed of a putt. A bumpy green at a stimpmeter reading of 10 will seem slower than a smooth green at 10 mainly because the ball will not "roll out" around the cup. Smoothness is achieved by:

• Rolling which we have done nearly every day for 2 years as multiple university studies have shown the best putting quality is reached when greens are rolled daily and mowed daily. Second best was rolled daily and mowed every other day which is what we try to follow.  
• Verticutting or thatching the greens removes thatch and organic matter while and increases smoothness. We verticut 3 to 4 times a year. 
• Brushing stands the grass up to provide a closer cut and less stragglers.
• Topdressing with sand dilutes thatch, fills surface imperfections from shoes and ball marks while providing a surface that tends to drain quickly. 
• Thin grass blades provide for less friction and a smoother surface for increased green speed. Blade thickness of individual pieces of grass is somewhat determined by grass variety, moisture levels and nutrient levels.
• Controlled plant growth has a major impact on green speed especially afternoon green speeds when the plant has grown all day. This year we are making a concentrated effort to apply less fertilizer to the greens and keep them a bit "leaner" while still leaving them growing enough to heal from ball marks, traffic and environmental stresses such as heat, cold and drought. Grass is not a carpet to be mowed once in a while and forgotten about. It is a complicated living and constantly changing life form that putts perfectly one day and is bumpy the next. Growth is controlled by many factors but some of the main ones are:
• Fertilization is key to growth and we spray our greens every 14 days on average with very light amounts of nitrogen and other nutrients as shown by our tissue and soil tests and iron mainly for color. We can do everything right with mowing height, topdressing, rolling, fertilization and water applications but if mother nature gives us rain and humidity the grass is going to grow faster and the greens are going to be slower and require more mowings to provide the same quality we had before it rained. Although our nitrogen inputs can be controlled during warm wet weather a natural process called nitrification releases nitrogen from the soil and the plants grow faster. It is why your lawn lawn looks greener after a rain even if you didn't fertilize it. In the summer of 2016 nitrification from perfect growing weather slowed green speeds around the state despite turf managers best efforts. 
• Moisture is key to green speed because it effects surface smoothness as wet greens are subject to foot-printing, faster growth, fatter leaf blades and ball marks. Dry greens are usually firmer than wet greens and dry greens often putt faster than wet greens. The dryer and firmer the greens become the more skill it takes to get a shot to hold, especially from the rough or a club with less loft. Golfers without the skill to hold a shot often need to consider a bump and run approach to reaching the greens. As a general rule grass and especially putting greens are healthier and play better when they are on the dry side. 
• Growth regulators have been shown to reduce vertical plant growth while still providing a healthy plant. The use of regulators started in earnest in the late 80's with some new products that could reduce growth while providing a healthier plant and other products that controlled growth and left plants on the verge of collapse. We have been very happy with the growth regulator use on our fairways but have found on the greens controlling fertilizer and moisture have been more effective ways to control growth. In 2016 we along with many other courses had little luck with controlling growth on greens because mother nature decided the grass was going to grow and there was nothing we could do about it. 

I have heard more comments this year about green speed than any year in my career and I will admit the greens have been faster this spring than most. We have not lowered our mowing height, we are actually mowing less and rolling the same amount as last year. We did purchase a new style of greens roller the Smithco XL70 and it does do a great job. The XL70 is very visible compared to our vibratory rollers that looked and operated like greensmowers. From a distance most customers thought we were mowing. I believe the biggest reason the greens have been faster so far this year is because we had a cold spring that controlled growth and we are applying less nitrogen.

I may not have fully explained green speed but if you take anything away from this topic I hope it is that greens are a living organism and we take great effort to control their quality but mother nature is in charge and we just go along for the ride.  

We hope you enjoy the golf course and mother nature gives you great playing weather.