What's the state of your greens currently?

[richart]

Perfect, but due for deep tining 17th August.















Joke.

 

[Voyager EMH]

Currently in the best condition that I've played on this year.

Hollow tining and sanding starts Monday.

I won't moan until next Saturday.

 

[Arthur Wedge]

Perfect, but due for deep tining 17th August.















Joke.

That always brings back bad memories

 

[louise_a]

Ours are good , faster than most courses I have played so I cant blame my poor putting on the greens

 

[rulefan]

Ours are good , faster than most courses I have played so I cant blame my poor putting on the greens

But you can on the speed

 

[fenwayrich]

Parkland course near Nottingham. Ours were very poor until early May but have improved massively. Now in excellent condition and reasonably quick. Maintenance starts Tuesday but will hopefully recover fairly quickly.

 

[D-S]

I think if your greens aren’t in very good condition in July and August then you’ve got a serious problem.
In standard UK courses (not links and heathland) having good greens (consistent, healthy and smooth) between early June and late August is an absolute minimum.
The real skill is maintaining quality for as early and as long as possible, this is obviously dependent on location.
Here in the South West, mid May until early or even mid November is the goal. Given the climate and therefore growing conditions that’s about the best you can get on a parkland course.

 

[Old Colner]

Ours are excellent for this weekends 36 hole scratch comp and have been good all season really.

 

[clubchamp98]

Ours are the best I've ever seen them, spot on. It took them a while to reach this point this year, some bumps along the way, but they genuinely can't be questioned right now.

It seems that it is more difficult to maintain good greens year after year now. Whether it's the restrictions on chemicals, fertilizer etc, I don't know, but even well renowned clubs struggle every so often now. @clubchamp98 what are your thoughts on this?

The weather plays a big part .
So where you are is key .
when it’s hot like now it’s sensible not to cut them to low every day as the grass can get stressed ( it’s a living thing don’t forget)
Overseeding is nessesary sometimes as the grass never gets long enough to self seed if it’s constantly cut down low.

A lot depends on the way they are built.
We had clay bowl subsoil greens designed to hold water ( no sprinklers then )but in wet weather they were dreadful.
Most courses will water the greens and tees but not much else ( normal club) but high end clubs with fairway irrigation will look better
But there are restrictions put on water usage in droughts.

Imo the modern method of ironing greens causes compaction and this can lead to more nessesary maintenance

a toxic layer builds up over time and can starve the grass roots of air and hold water on the surface this is why they are hollow cored while the grass is still growing so it heals faster than doing it in winter when there’s no growth.

The weather we have now is perfect for grass, warm with rain but this is dependant on where you are in the country.

As for chemicals the ones still allowed do the job but more natural things are avaliable but normally take longer to produce results.

In some clubs lack of money can result in lack of maintenance and this can be seen in a drop in the surfaces.
Clubs are cutting back and the price of sand ,fertiliser etc has gone through the roof.

So next time you guys have a moan about coring in April then Aug Sep just remember if it isn’t done your greens will suffer.!

I’m no expert but this is what I have seen over time working on golf courses.

 

[clubchamp98]

I think if your greens aren’t in very good condition in July and August then you’ve got a serious problem.
In standard UK courses (not links and heathland) having good greens (consistent, healthy and smooth) between early June and late August is an absolute minimum.
The real skill is maintaining quality for as early and as long as possible, this is obviously dependent on location.
Here in the South West, mid May until early or even mid November is the goal. Given the climate and therefore growing conditions that’s about the best you can get on a parkland course.

Yes spot on .
The TV golf shows courses around the world in tip top condition and golfers want theirs to be like that in mid February!

 

[JonnyGutteridge]

Almost perfect. And so of course, it’s course maintenance on Monday

 

[ExRabbit]

As good as they have been for a long time - but running so much faster now - I am 3-putting way more than I usually do!

And putting is the best part of my game.

Go figure!

 

[Arthur Wedge]

What didn’t help many courses this year was the lack of rain through April and May

It’s always good to throw water on them via sprinklers but nothing beats a good spell of rain and then warmth

It also doesn’t take much for greens to be lost to disease

 

[Skytot]

Compared to all the local courses I’ve played this year I think ours are poor . We had a bad start in March when they were hollow tined. No one checked if the green sprinklers were working then had an unprecedented dry spell .

 

[srixon 1]

Ours are excellent at the moment and usually are during the golf season every year.

Last week I played 5 different courses in and around South Wales and they all had really good greens. Newport and Rolls of Monmouth coming out as the best.

 

[Captainron]

Just hosted the Home Internationals so greens are superb.

Fairways are still struggling though.

 

[jim8flog]

I wonder if every club is the same , the greens hit their peak , members love them , then the maintenance happens and members then moan like made about the greens being ripped up - it’s like a yearyl cycle

Yes happens where I play. What a lot of them that do moan about it do not seem to understand is that the quality of the greens in winter has been substantially improved since we moved greens renovation from October to August ( a practice now done by virtually every club in this area) .

 

[jim8flog]

What didn’t help many courses this year was the lack of rain through April and May

It’s always good to throw water on them via sprinklers but nothing beats a good spell of rain and then warmth

It also doesn’t take much for greens to be lost to disease

Made me smile that one here in South Somerset make that late April till now, with no rain in sight for another week.
Barely 4 hours of rain in that time (that I have seen), never had to water my plants so much in 40 years of living here.

Biggest problem we are going to have to face at the club is the extent of wear to the point where there is now no grass to grow back.

 

[pendodave]

Ours have just been cut and sanded for summer work, so not great.
They were decent before, but they've not been at their best this year tbh. Imho, this is entirely due to the weather - no rain for weeks on end in the spring and early summer. In fact, we are still on winter rules as the fairways never recovered.

 

[JayB]

Where I played yesterday there wasn't much green, just pitchmarks with a flag in the middle, absolute disgrace to leave the greens in that state and by far the worst I've ever played on.