Phenomenally detailed account, very clear and detailed, of various issues, construction programs, drainage, maintenance, etc. If I can dig out my SuperNews review of it from a few years back I'll post it here.
From late 2004 in SuperNews;
"Between Art and Science"
review of
Golf Greens: History, Design, and Construction
by Michael J. Hurdzan, Ph.D.
Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons, 2004
334 pages, hardbound
$75
by Bradley S. Klein
Note to all greenkeepers. Next time a golfer (or committeeperson) has some suggestion for your putting surfaces, politely suggest they bone up on the subject by reading a copy of this new book. The text will overwhelm them - in a good way - with tons of compelling information. By the time they have digested all it has to say cation exchange rates, capillarity and particle distribution size, they’ll be humbled at all the science it takes to make golf greens grow well. They might also show some more respect for the people who design and maintain these unusual surfaces?
The basic issue is how to grow quality, uniform turf at a height of cut that’s anywhere from 1/30th to 1/00th its naturally occurring level. And to keep the surface smooth, disease tolerant, able to withstand foot traffic, and to keep it resilient throughout the golf season.
You have to admire Michael J. Hurdzan. He wears his immense knowledge well and communicates it with verve and clarity. It’s no easy matter to explain the technical minutiae of greens construction and agronomy and make it all readable to both technical and lay audiences. Not that many average golfers will delve into this tome. Too bad, because it manages to combine 50 years of folk wisdom with the latest expertise in turfgrass, soil chemistry and landscape architecture. And it locates the whole discussion within the larger history of golf in a way that makes for a continually interesting narrative.
Hurdzan is well armed, with a Ph.D. in plant physiology plus decades in the golf industry, first as an apprentice greenkeeper and, since 1970, as a course designer based in Columbus, Ohio. He’s also the author of a successful textbook, “Golf Course Architecture” (1997), and is a frequent lecturer on issues of course design, construction and legal liability. Best of all, he knows the difference between technical specifications made by laboratory scientists and field implementation in the real world by owners who have to foot the bill and superintendents who manage the results.
The strength of this book its analysis of three different methods of green construction: conventional soil-based or “push-up” surfaces; USGA-specification greens with a gravel layer and sand-based rootzone; and California method greens, with a rootzone but no gravel layer.
There’s nothing sacrosanct about any one of these methods. With USGA-spec greens costing up to $6 per square foot and California method greens running at least $2 per square foot, there may be sound benefit-cost reasons for opting to go with conventional, native soil greens at $0.50 per square foot. At an average course of 100,000 sq. ft. in total putting surface, greens can run anywhere from $50,000 to $600,000. In a case study, Hurdzan shows that at a course he recently designed, Bully Pulpit in Medora, N.D., soil greens made sense within a total construction budget for the golf course of only $650,000, not including irrigation.
The key, at Bully Pulpit and everywhere else, he emphasizes, is thorough testing of irrigation water quality, as well as understanding the soil and sand that are available.
Soils and materials analysis is a central part of this book. Hurdzan devotes a chapter to rootzone testing and evaluation, along the way showing that for all the scientific standards now available, certified labs can vary considerably. Moreover, static lab tests are one thing; performance in the field quite another. It helps to understand, as Hurdzan explains, that testing comes with tolerances, and that much can be done through the use of organic or inorganic amendments and hand watering to rectify in the field what might be a less than perfect set of construction materials.
Golf architects are notorious for making pronouncements on strategy and playability. But their truest test comes when they have to make recommendations on materials or approve subgrades on core-out greens.
“It is an uncontested fact,” writes Hurdzan, “that 50 percent of all golf course architects graduated in the bottom half of their class, so make certain you get one who understands all of the nuances of greens and not just design theory.”
Much the same could be said of superintendents. Many are legendary for making due with porous greens mix or high mineral-content ground water. For Hurdzan, the art of the profession will never disappear. But the job will be made easier and more cost-effective if they’ve been part of a design/build team that has planned meticulously in advance and knows what it’s getting in manageable materials.