The greens are a small part of a golf course’s acreage.
Compared to fairways and rough, however, greens present the largest challenge for a golf course’s continued success.
Architectural standards when the courses were constructed often dictate the size of these 18 segments. Rehoboth Beach Country Club opened its current location in the mid-1960s.
RBCC Course Superintendent Alan Fitzgerald said there are about 3 acres of green out of roughly 120 acres of the total playing area.
The Bay Course at Seaview Resort in Atlantic City, N.J., home of the ShopRite LPGA Classic, opened for play in 1914.
Course Superintendent Bill Leedom said, “The greens are only 2 acres. Some are real small, others bigger, but on average just under 2 acres using Google Earth.”
The United States Golf Association’s standard for greens construction is a cake model, with turf and sand layers built on top of complex drainage systems.
However, older courses such as Shawnee Country Club in Milford and other Cape Region layouts built simple pushup greens at much lower cost. The Bay Course greens were also built this way, but there are ways to improve a pushup green’s chances for survival.
Leedom said, “Last December, we did a drill and fill. A company called Double D Turf [took] a machine with a three-quarter-inch [wide] tine” that went a foot deep into the greens. “It drilled straight down and pulled all that material out and backfilled [the holes] with fresh sand,” he said.
“That’s a real plug. It’s abrasive, but it firmed them up better than ever. I rescheduled it again for this December. We’re going to drill and fill every year as long as I’m here,” Leedom said. “There is a lot of trial and error. We tried one type of sand. Another company provides 2 mm sand designed for drill and fill, so I’m going to try that next. It’s a little bit coarser, better drainage, but if you do it enough, the natural soil fills in. Slowly you can convert the green into a USGA spec-green by diluting with sand. These greens were all pushups to start. I don’t contemplate a wholesale green renovation because they’re 100 years old, and they’re awesome. They have so much character to them. No reshaping, just want to make them better, and drill and fill does that. I’m pumping sand in, and they’re eating that sand right up. It’s incredible.”
The size and sloping on the greens also dictate how many hole locations can be found on a green. The more locations there are, the less overall wear and tear occurs.
At modern clubs such as The Rookery’s 10th hole, there are at least six potential hole spots on the large oval.
Green speed is another limiting factor for hole locations, usually referred to as a stimp reading for the ramp-based measuring device. Course superintendents can raise (high stimp number) or reduce (low stimp number) green speeds with cutting and care routines.
“Sunday of the week of the LPGA tournament, they stop play,” Leedom said. “We try to get some stuff done before the start. Monday is usually the qualifier, unofficial practice round, and then we’re in it. They’re playing the course in much the same fashion as any other resort player would be. It’s just that extra care is applied to it. This year, I did a silica spray. The silica tightens up the leaf blades, so you get a better ball roll. I did that Tuesday night before the tournament.”
His crew also takes additional steps.
“If I can keep it between a 10 and 11 [on the stimp meter], then I start throwing in some afternoon mowing. We mow and roll in the morning, send the mower out again in the afternoon, and then we look at clippings,” he said. “If we’re not getting a lot of grass in the buckets, OK. We know in the weeks going into the LPGA they’re going to want to see those speeds. Once I’m in those 11 to 11.5 speeds, then I feel comfortable.”
Leedom’s major challenge for fast speeds remains the tiny size and shape of the Bay Course greens. For example, the sloped two-tiered green on the par four 16th hole really has only two good hole locations.
And, as he said, “On [the par five hole] nine you can’t go to the right. There’s the bottom left bowl. If they were a little bit slower, you can get up in there a little bit, but not for the LPGA.”
During non-tournament weeks, Leedom’s crew dials back a bit.
“It’s the way they were built,” Leedom said. “They were built a hundred years ago, and it’s a different game now. Superintendents have to get creative about how we make the game challenging for them, but outside of that, most golfers aren’t the best, so you don’t want to punish them, unless you’re at a nice, nice club where that’s what they want. Here, it’s a resort. People want to have fun. They don’t want to get destroyed while they’re out there playing.”
Editor’s note: This is the fourth part of a continuing series on course maintenance.
