What if perfectly uniform green grass was a farce?

[Joe_Tucholski]

What if you found out ANGC painted their grass green to obtain the perfect shade you see every year at the masters.  Realize I'm not saying they paint the grounds I'm simply asking what if the grounds were painted what would you opinion be of the course or the event?  Would it change?

Now what if Pinehurst and the USGA had chosen to paint the fairways for the US Open?  Do you think your opinion on the course or the event would change.  Pinehurst has painted the fairways during the winters when the Bermuda really is brown in dormancy.  It looks uniformly green.

I've heard of numerous soccer/football fields being painted for tv presentation (they said the field for the US Portugal game was painted in places).

[Jon Wiggett]

Joe,

that would almost as bad as if the dyed the lakes to make them appear even more blue I wonder why the most sort after item in golf is not green tinted glasses

Jon

[Paul Gray]

Whilst the artificial nature of much in golfer offends me, my assessment of a course wouldn't be swayed by this or that colour. For me, it's just all about how a course plays. Of course, anyone that plays on non sand based courses would endlessly be moaning about the ball not rolling like it did on the apparently lush and green golf course he or she played on in the sand hills, but then that's what happens when you sell an artificial reality.

[jeffwarne]

Whilst the artificial nature of much in golfer offends me, my assessment of a course wouldn't be swayed by this or that colour. For me, it's just all about how a course plays. Of course, anyone that plays on non sand based courses would endlessly be moaning about the ball not rolling like it did on the apparently lush and green golf course he or she played on in the sand hills, but then that's what happens when you sell an artificial reality.

Paul,
respectfully I would say you are very swayed by color, routinely making cracks about ANGC which playes as firm and fast as ANY course in the US.
If it were brown and played the same way your opinion would be different.
Which means you are swayed by color, in reverse.

[Brent Hutto]

Brian,

You could build an exact replica of Augusta National including the same grass blade for blade, situated it in Pinehurst and it would drain better than the actual ANGC ever can.

Likewise you could do a molecular-level reconstruction of Pinehurst #2 down on that Georgia red clay and it would not drain as well as the real #2 does.

About 90% of the rounds of golf played on either course are NOT during a three-inch downpour of rain or the day after flash flooding. I think it makes sense to compare courses in dry, temperate climates based on the normative weather patterns. Holding up well on the 20 or 30 wettest days of the year is just a bonus you get from be situated on a few hundred feet of sand.

[Paul Gray]

Brian,

Whilst that's all very true, I'm not sure that the current debate is actually about architectural merit (when people aren't choosing favourite colours). The point being discussed is about playing conditions. I'm not sure that anyone if suggesting that MacKenzie did anything other than a great job at Augusta, just that, in it's current incarnation, it's not what it once was.

[Joe_Tucholski]

Brian I'm not sure what you are talking about regarding black and white.  I'm talking green or brown. 

I used Augusta in the question because it is known for having perfect turf that is uniformly green.  Pinehurst was not uniformly green in the fairways during the US Open x2 but I think the turf played pretty perfect.  In this thread I wasn't trying to discuss the differences between Pinehurst and Augusta, luckily for us all someone else has started that thread as it's a good topic.

I'll join Paul as the second person to answer my question   .

If I found out Augusta painted their fairways for the Masters I would feel like I was lied to and I think I would be upset.  I like the green appearance of the Masters on TV, similarly I like it when the azaleas are in bloom.  The uniform green and perfectly manicured grass is part of Augusta and undoubtedly it positively influences my opinion on the course.  Logically I like the green so why would I be upset if they obtained the green through painting.  I don’t know it just seems wrong.  I don’t think I have a problem with fertilizers or other additives that allow the grass to grow greener than they would otherwise.  I also don’t know why the color is at all important but I like that I look out my patio door at green grass and not brown grass.  Augusta would clearly be a great course if there were bits of dormant brown grass.  But my opinion on the event would definitely change and my opinion on the course would probably change a bit as well.

Now to Pinehurst.  There were many people who talked negatively about the visual appearance on TV with the serpentine green at the center of the fairway and the brown at edges.  I admit it didn’t look good on TV, but when I was there I loved the way it looked.  So the question.  Given the fact that I like the green look of Augusta on TV and I didn’t like the green/brown appearance of Pinehurst on TV I have to say it would have looked better for TV if they painted the fairways a uniform green.  Grass is regularly painted for sporting events purely for presentation because presentation matters.  That being said I’m glad they didn’t paint the fairways and I love the event that much more because they didn’t paint the fairways.  With well-respected courses in the United States being presented on TV with brown turf that plays great hopefully my mind and the mind of most will stop equating green with good and brown with not as good and only care about the playing characteristics of the turf (something you can't determine by simply watching an event on TV).