The Origin of the Intermediate Cut

[Scott Stambaugh]

I'm speaking of that general 0.75" to 1" strip of 5' to 6' wide cut between the fairways and rough.

Does anyone know where it all began?

Did the USGA debut it at a US Open?

Did it come from an individual club?

Has any architect ever gone as far as specifying it on a grassing plan?

It seemed to be nowhere twenty years ago, now it has spread uncontrollably.

Scott

[Mike McGuire]

We talked about eliminating this cut at our last green committee meeting to save $. I prefer to have it. Interested to hear the comments.

[Scott Stambaugh]

We talked about eliminating this cut at our last green committee meeting to save $. I prefer to have it. Interested to hear the comments.

Mike-

There most likely will not be any substantial savings in eliminating it.  If it becomes fairway or rough, it stilll has to be maintained.  (I suppose if it became rough, it would get mowed less often than the fairways, so maybe a bit of savings.)  You could get rid of a piece of equipment, which would eliminate repair costs over time.

We eliminated our intermediate cut and converted it (along with a lot of additional rough area) to fairway.  We used to have approximately 25 acres of fairways/intermediate, now we have 29 acres of fairways with no intermediate.

To me, the intermediate cut on older courses is a knee-jerk reaction to shrinking fairway widths.  Instead of making an effort to reclaim lost fairway acreage, the intermediate cut is put in to satisfy those that complain about the rough, not realizing the fairways are not what they used to be.

Most of our fairway acreage has been reclaimed, leaving no room for an intermediate cut.

Just my opinion- obviously I'm not a fan...

Scott

[Dan Herrmann]

We've never had intermediate.  It is a feature guests sometimes mention, but honestly, the members almost never think about it.

[Sean Remington (SBR)]

   I believe the origin of the intermediate cut can be directly linked to the lowering of fairway height of cut.  When fairways started to be mowed at less than 1" the rough started to look higher. The contrast between the two areas became to great and the step cut came about.  Probably early to mid 80's at most private clubs.

[Bradley Anderson]

This is a really good question. I can remember the intermediate cut being done at the better clubs as early as 1979, and I wouldn't be surprised if it goes back even twenty years further.

Just a guess, but I think it was developed for the same reasons behind the development of the collar on the greens.