Greens Maintainence

[Imurg]

Ours are being done this week, but it looks like only scarifying and seeding...
They haven't been "cored" for a couple of years now
Is "Coring" something that should be done more regularly?

All the current work seems to be doing is pulling thatch out, creating a ploughed field and filling it with seed...???

 

[CliveW]

Surely it would depend on the particular greens at your course? We have an ongoing regime which involves hollow tining and back filling with sand two or three times a year and micro tining regularly in between. This is because of particular problems with our greens. We are also fortunate in having two championship courses which allows us to schedule the closure of each, for a week's maintenance, in the late summer.

 

[Wayman]

Ours have just been sanded. They are still stupidly fast and true!

 

[TXL]

Depends what the greenkeeper wants to achieve. We had our greens cored as the grass roots were not growing downwards and were therefore forming a thick layer just below the surface that prevented water draining. By coring, you firstly make holes in the layer of roots and secondly, assuming deep coring, promote the growth downwards.

Clear your inbox please!

 

[Imurg]

Clear your inbox please!

Done Dad!:thup:

 

[John Boy Saint]

Played Aylesbury Vale last week and all the greens being given a wash and brush up, very strange to play on mind. Drop a "bomb" on the green from the fairway one bounce and whoosh away the ball scurried to the edge like it just jumped into a getaway car outside a bank job. Putting out kept coming up short probably due to the approach running away had planted that seed of caution in our heads.

Still the worst experience of greens maintenance was at Oceanico in Portugal, every other green had been tyned and sanded, so all putting was a bit rubbish until the turn when we had worked it out.

 

[Lump]

Ours are tined 4 times a year min. They are awful to play on for the first couple of weeks and then BAM, they speed up very very quickly.
You can tell greens with a good base. You get a slap noise when the ball hits from height rather than a hollow thud.

 

[Doon frae Troon]

Most of the time thatch is caused by over feeding and over watering greens.
Greenkeepers, under pressure from committees under pressure from members give themselves a problem they then have to cure.
[Instead of doing it correctly to start with, and probably being sacked because the greens are not green enough]

 

[timchump]

i have no idea how often "coring" should be done, i have never personally seen it done at my club, probably by chance than anything else, the greens are always in mint conditions

i seriously don't know how the green keepers do it sometimes

on one hole i noticed somebody had damaged the green very near the hole, it almost looked like an iron shot had been hit from it, the very next day i checked the exact same spot, the damaged had vanished... i 'd like to know how they did that

 

[Doon frae Troon]

Perhaps a kind person will put a link up to 'Sustainable Natural Greenkeeping' for me as my 'assistant' is busy.

Read the Jim Arthur quotes especially if you are ever thinking of becoming a committee member.

 

[Doon frae Troon]

http://www.finegolf.co.uk/what-is-fine-golf/green-keeping/

There you go

 

[Hobbit]

Depending on your greens, the equipment and the dressing, it is possible for them to be micro tined one day and for you to find it hard to spot the next day. I was in a greens meeting yesterday and was told that following the winter we've had they'll not be at their best for another 4 to 6 weeks.

 

[duncan mackie]

Depending on your greens, the equipment and the dressing, it is possible for them to be micro tined one day and for you to find it hard to spot the next day. I was in a greens meeting yesterday and was told that following the winter we've had they'll not be at their best for another 4 to 6 weeks.

most of the grasses used in our greens are extremely temperature dependent for growth - and many courses use mixed grasses....so the net result is botanical chaos through the last 6 weeks that should, as you reference, resolve itself over the coming weeks (different areas will be difference times - I expect ours to be around 2-3 weeks).

ours are currently slower than they were a month ago because of new growth that can't be cut to 'summer' heights yet! So they look better, putt slower but true in the mornings then the uneven growth through the day will make later play a little more frustrating...not long now

 

[Roops]

We have recently had a new green keeper and he has made great inroads into returning our greens to their once legendary quality. One really good thing he has done is identify which parts of the year are crucial for him to be able to present the greens at their best (weather permitting). So club finals have been moved on his recommendation and our club diary now shows when he will be carrying out specific work on the greens. This means that all the moaning gits can prepare for their moaning weeks in advance, and the rest of us can adapt to a little different conditions on the greens.

 

[fundy]

Ours are being done this week, but it looks like only scarifying and seeding...
They haven't been "cored" for a couple of years now
Is "Coring" something that should be done more regularly?

All the current work seems to be doing is pulling thatch out, creating a ploughed field and filling it with seed...???

be grateful, ours are currently horrific after they cored them last week then sanded them after. Wouldve been fine if it then rained but we are now over a week later, no rain, and sadly they havent put the sprinkler system on them either, so we have crusty cored greens with varying degrees of sand depending on how exposed the green is. I understand they have to be done, but to not put any water on over a week later is bordering on negligent for me, all it means is it will take much longer for the cores to fill and the greens to settle again

am now looking for somewhere else to play back end of the week where the greens havent been recently treated

 

[Doon frae Troon]

A greens chairman of a Downs course once asked my opinion of his course.
He was not too impressed when I told him to play the course backwards and swop his 100% poa annua greens with his 90% bent/fescue tees [and approaches]
The only part of the entire course to have poor turf was the greens.
Years of neglect and poor decisions.

 

[BTatHome]

We did ours at the end of last month, and with the low temperature overnight for those weeks it's only now starting to recover, last weekend was a huge difference to the previous week. We have more sand to go on them soon, but until the weather changes to forecast a nice shower or two then they won't be done, no point in dumping the sand until then. A few other local clubs did theirs last week and they will now be suffering for longer than us.

Unfortunately it's hard to convince the general membership of the importance as they only remember the greens in their prime and only ever complain when the coring starts. A few years of neglect and you'll end up with problems that will last a long time.

Of course the best time would be middle of August as the temp is sufficient or the recovery to be fast, but I don't know of many places that are brave enough to do that, as the greens are usually great at that time.

 

[Doon frae Troon]

We did ours at the end of last month, and with the low temperature overnight for those weeks it's only now starting to recover, last weekend was a huge difference to the previous week. We have more sand to go on them soon, but until the weather changes to forecast a nice shower or two then they won't be done, no point in dumping the sand until then. A few other local clubs did theirs last week and they will now be suffering for longer than us.

Unfortunately it's hard to convince the general membership of the importance as they only remember the greens in their prime and only ever complain when the coring starts. A few years of neglect and you'll end up with problems that will last a long time.

Of course the best time would be middle of August as the temp is sufficient or the recovery to be fast, but I don't know of many places that are brave enough to do that, as the greens are usually great at that time.

I remember coring one courses greens in August. They were in a poor state and there was a county fixture in mid Sept.
Absolute uproar, the members were looking for me with a shotgun and rope.
A week later the greens were the best they had been all season.

You are right, third week in August is the best time to core a green.
Lots of members are on holiday then!!

 

[patricks148]

I remember coring one courses greens in August. They were in a poor state and there was a county fixture in mid Sept.
Absolute uproar, the members were looking for me with a shotgun and rope.
A week later the greens were the best they had been all season.

You are right, third week in August is the best time to core a green.
Lots of members are on holiday then!!

Yes Nairn Dunbar did there's the day after the 4 day open at the begining of Aug, uproar, completley recovered withing 3 weeks and are still great now, unlike the greens at my place.

Though with the warmer temps and the odd bit of rain at night, there should start getting better.

Talk is they are going to start doing ours mid season, though it can't be done this year as we have sold a lot of advanced green fee's.

 

[DCB]

Bottom line is nobody likes the upheaval that treating the greens causes. It is a necessary evil though and as has been said, if done at the right time, can allow the greens to return use very quickly.

Having seen core samples of greens which have not been treated properly in the past and the damage that results, I can say I'm all for the green staff doing all they can to make our putting surfaces better in the long run.