Newbie Tutorial - Fast Greens?

[Mike Demetriou]

I would like to understand how it works when superintendents "speed up" greens. Please consider the following variables. The course I'm thinking of (Glencoe Golf Club, in Glencoe, IL) is in Chicago, and our temps are in the low 60s around this time of year, with overnights in the high 30s, give or take a few degrees.  We have had about four or five rainy days in the last thirty, so it is pretty dry.  Of the dry days, most have been relatively sunny.  Of course nearly every morning brings large amounts of dew, and in some cases we've had a frost delay or two that I'm aware of.

I know little, if anything about turf, growing turf, maintaining turf, etc.  But I am aware that the greens at Glencoe played fast two weeks ago, played extremely fast last week (when there was a creatively named "tough course" tournament), and they were relatively fast this week. I use the term relative, because in each of these three instances, the greens were simply faster than they were all spring and summer. (I play there every Saturday) I couldn't say what their speed was on the Stimpmeter, or whether or not they were "fast" relative to many other courses in Chicago. However, I played The Merit Club last week, and not surprisingly, The Merit Club's greens were much faster than Glencoe, but they were also much more undulating, so it was not terribly easy to compare them.

Of the three seasons we play here, is one more conducive to faster greens than the others?  Does temperature matter? What about precip?

Is it likely that the effort to increase the speed of the greens would've had lasted this long? Or is this perhaps a seasonal treatment? What is the typical procedure at a municipal course? The course is in great shape, so it appears as though they know what they're doing. My problem is that I don't know what they're doing, and I'd like to learn a bit more. I am told that the current superintendent is a golfer, compared to the previous superintendent, who was regarded as a landscaper.

[Mike Salinetti]

Here in the Poconos we have had no measurable rain here in 2 weeks. My greens are the fastest they have been all year and they do not look dried out at all. I have not had to water them and have not lowered the heights. In fact we even skip a few days of mowing per week right now if there was a hard frost the night before. With the sunlight not being as direct as well as the shorter days, and a few heavy frosts the greens do not require much water. I think the best time for fast green speeds in the northern part of the country is April and October.

You mentioned your superintendent is a golfer, as I am, and this time of year I enjoy not having to irrigate and letting the greens get quick. Imagine if we had this type of weather all year long, greens would be simple to manage.

[PGertner]

It is quite simple....they have stopped growing because of cold nights.....

[Adam Clayman]

As I understand it, Dave Arden, the new super at Glencoe has spent the last two years fixing the problems GGC have had with their greens due to the excessive over watering regimes of the past. (fungus etc,) Drying out the greens will increase speeds.

[Jeff_Brauer]

Mike,

Some ancient history, but I worked at GGC two summers to put myself through college and learn some golf biz at the same time.  I also was responsible, as a Killian and Nugent associate for the redesigns of some greens - 15 was my fave, but I also did 17, 9, and a few others.  I visited two years ago and they all looked a lot different than I remember!

That doesn't qualify me to say what the greens are doing right now, but I think PGert is about right.  Usually, speed is a function of height of cut and rolling (plus species and a few other things they can't modify)  It sounds like they gradually cut them down and rolled them for the tourney and then are gradually letting them come back up to normal speeds, but cool weather has slowed growth so the process is slower than you might imagine. 

As always, I could be wrong.

[Anthony Gray]

  In the south the greens are faster in the fall and winter because you can cut them lower without the risk of them dying from the heat.


 

[Eric Morrison]

Old adage : Spring slow, Fall fast.

[Doug Siebert]

Mike, you are at about the same latitude as I am (I'm in Iowa City, IA) and this is usually the time of year when they blow the water out of the sprinklers and shut them down for the winter.  So not only do you have the grass growing less, they also probably can no longer water the greens.  They aerated here a few weeks ago, and the top dressing and rolling they did as part of that helps too.

I love playing this time of the year because the greens are rock hard, fast as lightning and roll perfectly true, and the wind sometimes really blows.  I hate the cold though, so those winds need to be from the south, north winds are way too cold in late October!!

Basically I don't think it is necessarily deliberate that they speed up greens this time of year, but conditions make it very easy for them to do if they so desire, something much harder to do in the summer when the course is much busier and the heat and sun can damage the greens if they take things too far.

[Mike Demetriou]

Thanks everyone for the perspective. Eric, your post reminded me of Occam's Razor - sometimes the simplest explanation is the correct explanation.  It very well could be that the tournament was held because the greens were getting faster, and not the other way around. I have to say, it is not a remarkable course, but it has a few really excellent greens, most notably 13 and 7, and is typically in terrific condition for a municipal course. What surprised me and led me to post here was how much faster the greens have been for the last few weeks, which is something I enjoyed immensely.  I played around thirty rounds this year, half at Glencoe, and half at some of the best courses in the country, objectively speaking. 

My critical eye is still developing, as is my golf game, but what I have learned this summer is that looking at a course and playing a course, yield two dramatically different results.  Evidence of this is easily observable over on Wayne's thread about Indian Creek.  His photos are drawing ire from those who prefer restored, or more natural looking, or more authentic looking bunkering.  Regardless of where you stand on that issue, Wayne's post was likely motivated by the fact that he really enjoys playing ICCC as well as its architecture.  As a newfound fan of GCA critique, I have been tempted to rely too much on what others say here, or what various rankings may offer, or the ironic validation many feel from having a tour stop on their course.  Sometimes excellent course conditions can make up for a lack of GCA, and sometimes superb GCA can yield a dramatic result, in spite of less than excellent conditions.  My take away from this summer will be that is a hell of a lot of fun trying to figure out which is which.