Mark,
Regarding green conditions in the UK and North America in the 1920's, I think the conditions in North America would have been better. C.V. Piper traveled extensively in England, Scotland, and Wales during the spring and early summer of 1924. He was, of course, quite familiar with turf conditions in North America through his work with the Department of Agriculture and the USGA Green Section.
Piper reported that:
In general, greenkeeping in Britain seems to consist mainly of mowing
and watering. Occasionally a top-dressing or a little fertilizer may be
used, but on many courses the greens are starved and the turf so thin that
the soil can be seen through the grass. This starving is done on the theory
that it makes the grass tough and deep-rooted and also that it discourages
the weeds, especially Poa annua. In May, however, this latter grass
formed a solid blanket on most of the putting greens, even where the base
of the turf was bent and fescue. Pearlwort is an exceedingly common
weed on the putting greens, as a rule making up 10 per cent of the turf,
and occasionally as much as 50 per cent. It seems not to be so obnoxious in
Britain as in America, though it can scarcely be deemed a desirable turf.
Nowhere was a putting green seen as good as the better greens in
America seeded to German bent, let alone those developed by the vegetative
method. This is certainly not due to the conditions, as they seem to be
much more favorable than are American conditions. Rather it seems to
result from the fact that playable turf is easily secured and, in consequence,
there has been no urge to secure the best possible. It may, indeed,
be a debatable question whether British golf clubs should spend more
money to secure ideal turf, or rest content with such turf as Nature and
present greenkeeping methods produce.
On many courses the putting green turf contrasts most unfavorably
with the fairway turf. The latter is often extremely good, but the greens
are usually very weedy. This points to something being wrong in the
greenkeeping methods. The commonest weeds are Poa annua and pearlwort;
but white clover, hop clover, chickweed, etc., are far from rare.
Systematic weeding scarcely exists in British greenkeeping except for
such taprooted weeds as starweed and plantain.