[Shane Wright]

Please see this article from the USGA website.

http://www.usga.org/news/2010/July/Course-Care--Firm---Fast-At-Last/

I apologize if this article has already been posted.  But I'm really glad to see this type of press coming forward.

Is it possible to change the average golfer's perspective?  How best to educate?  How long will this take?  How about superintendents, how hard will it get some to change? 

[Mark McKeever]

Its really great to see the USGA starting to push this a little bit.  There are so many courses out there that don't play the way they were originally intended because of soft conditions.  Bring on the firm and fast!

Mark

[RSLivingston_III]

Well, hopefully the magazines and media (TV) will start helping promote this position and we will start seeing a change in Joe Average golfers  ideas about golf course conditioning.

[Adam Clayman]

I apologize if this article has already been posted.  But I'm really glad to see this type of press coming forward.

Is it possible to change the average golfer's perspective?  How best to educate?  How long will this take?  How about superintendents, how hard will it get some to change? 

Shane, Thanks for the article, and I agree it is great to see it on the USGA website. But Firm and Fast has been a mantra on this website for as long as it's been graciously offered. 10+years

I don't believe it's impossible (just close) to change the minds of golfer's who prefer their golf soft, it just takes time and repeated exposure.

It will be harder to get the Average Super to embrace this. Not until he's somehow tasked, or, has some kind of written guarantee that he won't lose his job because of some blemishes, would a sane person risk their livelihood.

[Shane Wright]

Adam -

I agree with what you are saying, but I think you have to start somewhere and actually seeing this in golf publications and on the USGA website is a huge step.

It will definitely be very difficult for many Supers to embrace, but frugality and responsible maintenance practices may be the way some courses survive. 

I will hold out a little hope and try to do my part to educate those who I play with.  Maybe this can catch on faster than we think.

[Rick Shefchik]

“The fairways were immaculate.  The fairways were damp to the point that balls would bury into the ground as they were hit, but they were lush and green.” 

Makes you want to slap your forehead.

[Bradley Anderson]

These discussions always get me worked up because people seem to think that superintendents are intentionally over watering and over fertilizing golf courses. I just don't think that that is as true today as it was maybe 20 or 30 years ago.

I had standing water on greens Sunday after a rain. By Tuesday afternoon those greens were wilting, even though they were still soft from the rain on Sunday. I did nothing to cause this problem. The greens are all Poa because the older bents can't survive at these cutting heights. And the Poa roots stop growing when the soil temperatures get this high. If I did not water those greens they would be dead. I'm talking dead and not coming back unless you sod entire sections of greens.

I have worked about 70 hours a week for 7 weeks strait. The USGA is not doing me a favor by printing this stuff. What they are really doing is turning up the heat on all of us. How may of these guys have ever layed awake at night and worried about if a green was going to make it through the summer?

There are people behind the brown is beautiful movement who labor under the assumption that grass will somehow change its genetic code if you deprive it of water and nutrients. Give me a break.

[Ian Larson]

It's a management style. It's suited for some supers, others it's not. It's never going to be fully accepted as the standard, at least not in America. If a super is putting down 5 lbs of Nitrogen a year in a 6 month growing season or throwing up sprinkler heads on soil greens after a couple inches of rain...it sounds intentional to me.

[Brent Hutto]

Our club's new, young superintendent has cut back on water and other inputs since taking over last year. Not drastically but just enough that you can tell a difference in the percentage of days the course is playing reasonably firm versus the ones where balls are plugging in the least well drained spots. He said when he started that he was going to take things to the point where brown was a possibility but not so far as to actually stress the grass enough to lose it during unexpectedly unfavorable weather.

The previous superintendent of many years standing considered part of his mandate to be zero possibility of brown or brownish turf at any point on the greens, tees, rough or fairway no matter what the weather. So he erred on the side of deliberate overwatering to avoid even the possibility of a few days of brown here or there. That is in my opinion an irresponsible use of resources, it makes for a predominantly unpleasant playing experience and it is based on nothing more than the avoidance of criticism by know-nothings who think a golf course is their front yard and that emerald green is the only acceptable color.

P.S. Let me add that for the last few weeks our course has been playing quite wet compared to, say, the month of May. With the ongoing heat wave there's not much choice in the matter.

[CStrong]

Gentlemen,  as a Superintendent I can honestly say there is a time for firm and fast, and a time to exercise good judgement and be conservative.  This has been the hottest summer since 1988, according to the USGA.  Firm and fast is wonderful, but only when the weather permits.  Loosing turf is not fun and puts alot of members and managers in difficult positions.  On an old golf course, in order to accomplish firm and fast conditoins on a daily basis, one would have to regrass.  Poa annua does not enjoy these conditions will check out for good if you are not careful.

There are alot of Supers out there who are trying to reduce their inputs.  This is the responsible thing to do, both environmentally and financially.  There have been many occassions this year where that has not been allowed to be the case.  Excessive temperatures and humidity have caused problems, atleast they have in the Northeast.  I have always discussed firm and fast with my membership without too much resistance.  Most of us have to walk a fine line between aesthetics and playability.  Without cooperative weather that can be a very tall order.

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