Is the USGA,

[Patrick_Mucci]

through their turf management arm, trying to slow down green speeds at the local club level ?

Should TEPaul's test be the determining factor in selecting green speeds at a club ?

[JESII]

Could you explain his test to me?

[Patrick_Mucci]

JES II,

You, of all people, aren't familiar with TEPaul's green speed test ?

It's simple.
In summary:

You determine the proper speed on the most intricate green on the golf course and then apply that speed, universally, to all other greens.

[JESII]

Adopting that test would be a bit contradictory considering their practice in US Opens of treating each green as an individual and maintaining it to it's perceived playability limit.

By the way, I think that test makes some sense so long as there is an understanding of how a green changes speeds throughout the day.

[Patrick_Mucci]

Adopting that test would be a bit contradictory considering their practice in US Opens of treating each green as an individual and maintaining it to it's perceived playability limit.
That practice is recent, and a concession to the fact that the green speeds have gotten too fast, universally.

Holes like # 18 at Olympic, # 1 at WFW and # 7 at Shinnecock are prime examples, and Exhibit A for proof that TEPaul's test is the right way to go.

By the way, I think that test makes some sense so long as there is an understanding of how a green changes speeds throughout the day.

They usually DON'T get faster

[JESII]

The greens I played yesterday sure did.
The superintendents on here will hopefully correct me if I'm wrong, but this time of year when the greens have some moisture in the morning and it's a bit cool so growing has slowed down a bit there is every chance the greens will speed up through the day due to drying out.



Pat,

I think that test is a good idea, all I said was that the USGA might want to practice it themselves before they start telling individual clubs what they ought to do.

I don't care if it's a recent trend or not, if the USGA agronomist walks into my club and tells me I should maintain the greens at a speed that will keep the most intricate green on my course highly playable in a pretty wide area, I would only ask one question; what happened to that notion at Southern Hills, Shinnecock Hills, Winged Foot, and Olympic?

[Jim_Kennedy]

Pat,
Not trying to pick a nit, but isn't that idea attributed (on this board) to Steve Curry?

What do you do if a course only has a couple of greens with a lot (like our old fourth - pre Bahto) of tilt? If you were to mow them to reasonable speeds the rest will suffer from being perceived as too slow.