PGA eliminates the up and back fairway cut

[Bill Brightly]

When the Barclays returns to Ridgewood this year, you will not see this look:



It seems the players who sit on the committee (I think Furyk is one) did not like the "up and back cut" because balls roll out differently depending on whether you are going with the grain or against. Ridgewood agreed with the request, so all fairways are now cut in the same direction, with the grain running away from the tee. That bums me out because I love the classic look that the up and back cut presents.

What do you all think about this? My first reaction is that this is another example of tour players being ridiculously pampered. But maybe I'm wrong. Should all balls hitting the fairway have the same rollout everthing else held equal? Might this hurt some less than straight drivers, their ball may reach the rough more easily? And by the way, the rough at Ridgewood is incredibly thick. It is not high, but the volume of the plants is really dense; they have obviously been fertilizing heavily. I bet the leaderboard will be comprised of those who lead in fairways hit; it is nearly impossible to hold the greens at Ridgewood from the rough.

[Tom Bacsanyi]

This is one of the things I loved about Ridgewood's look.  Unfortunate.  Why don't they mow back to front like Augusta since that's what the tour guys want every week anyway?

[Bill Brightly]

Tom, they may well be cutting back to front. All I know is that the up and back cut is gone.

[jeffwarne]

when stuff like this stops mattering , we'll be in a better place
Perhaps they could train the sheep in Wales to walk in a row (with uniform size teeth and appetite)

[Mike Schott]

I only care about the aesthetics and the up and back cut looks stupid IMO. It's forced and unnatural.

[Tom Bacsanyi]

I only care about the aesthetics and the up and back cut looks stupid IMO. It's forced and unnatural.

And Bill, you said "with the grain running away from the tee" which means the mowers will be going tee>green, not green>tee like Augusta.

[Mike Schott]

I only care about the aesthetics and the up and back cut looks stupid IMO. It's forced and unnatural.

And Bill, you said "with the grain running away from the tee" which means the mowers will be going tee>green, not green>tee like Augusta.

Serious as a heart attack. What is natural looking about half the fairway one color and the other half another shade? I'm no GCA or Superintendent but I've never seen this on any course I've played. Maybe I'm wrong but it seems like a lot more work for the grounds crew to do this rather than have one mower going back and forth.

[Anthony_Nysse]

Mowing fairways in all one direction is becoming much more common at PGA Tour events because they have the machines and people to do it. Many courses are getting away from the striping all together, greens included. Quail Hollow, Muirfield Village, Congressional to name a few. We rotate clockwise and counterclockwise on every mowing, so there is not any striping

Video of Congressional fairways being mowed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Tiu43eIrlM

[Mike Schott]

Mowing fairways in all one direction is becoming much more common at PGA Tour events because they have the machines and people to do it. Many courses are getting away from the striping all together, greens included. Quail Hollow, Muirfield Village, Congressional to name a few. We rotate clockwise and counterclockwise on every mowing, so there is not any striping

Video of Congressional fairways being mowed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Tiu43eIrlM

Thanks Anthony. It's amazing to see that many mowers synched so well. 

[Tom Bacsanyi]

Mowing fairways in all one direction is becoming much more common at PGA Tour events because they have the machines and people to do it. Many courses are getting away from the striping all together, greens included. Quail Hollow, Muirfield Village, Congressional to name a few. We rotate clockwise and counterclockwise on every mowing, so there is not any striping

Video of Congressional fairways being mowed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Tiu43eIrlM

Thanks Anthony. It's amazing to see that many mowers synched so well. 

Just like at your local municipal!

I agree that the ideal is to mow one direction, but as Tony says you have to have the machines to do it, which is the <1% of golf courses, and furthermore they may be borrowing machines from other facilities to do it (event).  As for the 99%, Seeing as most places can afford about 2 of those machines you see it isn't doable.  I think up and back/block mowing/salt and pepper is the most efficient and classically aesthetic mowing pattern for a course with a reasonable budget (i.e. NOT CONGO). 

Tony, when you say you switch clockwise/counterclockwise, does that mean you do up and back?  How many units?  5 reel or triplex?

[Paul Gray]

when stuff like this stops mattering , we'll be in a better place
Perhaps they could train the sheep in Wales to walk in a row (with uniform size teeth and appetite)

You read my mind.

This is superficial drivel.

[Anthony_Nysse]

Mowing fairways in all one direction is becoming much more common at PGA Tour events because they have the machines and people to do it. Many courses are getting away from the striping all together, greens included. Quail Hollow, Muirfield Village, Congressional to name a few. We rotate clockwise and counterclockwise on every mowing, so there is not any striping

Video of Congressional fairways being mowed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Tiu43eIrlM

Thanks Anthony. It's amazing to see that many mowers synched so well. 

Just like at your local municipal!

I agree that the ideal is to mow one direction, but as Tony says you have to have the machines to do it, which is the <1% of golf courses, and furthermore they may be borrowing machines from other facilities to do it (event).  As for the 99%, Seeing as most places can afford about 2 of those machines you see it isn't doable.  I think up and back/block mowing/salt and pepper is the most efficient and classically aesthetic mowing pattern for a course with a reasonable budget (i.e. NOT CONGO). 

Tony, when you say you switch clockwise/counterclockwise, does that mean you do up and back?  How many units?  5 reel or triplex?

We will mow like you see in the pic (clockwise) and mow counter clockwise the next time, thus whipping out most visible stripes. We also mow side and side. These directions leave no stripes visible from the tee. We have 5 plexes and will mow with 3-5 units.

[MClutterbuck]

Mowing fairways in all one direction is becoming much more common at PGA Tour events because they have the machines and people to do it. Many courses are getting away from the striping all together, greens included. Quail Hollow, Muirfield Village, Congressional to name a few. We rotate clockwise and counterclockwise on every mowing, so there is not any striping

Video of Congressional fairways being mowed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Tiu43eIrlM

Thanks Anthony. It's amazing to see that many mowers synched so well. 

Just like at your local municipal!

I agree that the ideal is to mow one direction, but as Tony says you have to have the machines to do it, which is the <1% of golf courses, and furthermore they may be borrowing machines from other facilities to do it (event).  As for the 99%, Seeing as most places can afford about 2 of those machines you see it isn't doable.  I think up and back/block mowing/salt and pepper is the most efficient and classically aesthetic mowing pattern for a course with a reasonable budget (i.e. NOT CONGO). 

Tony, when you say you switch clockwise/counterclockwise, does that mean you do up and back?  How many units?  5 reel or triplex?

We will mow like you see in the pic (clockwise) and mow counter clockwise the next time, thus whipping out most visible stripes. We also mow side and side. These directions leave no stripes visible from the tee. We have 5 plexes and will mow with 3-5 units.

They are getting rid of the most unnatural look a golf course could have. And confusing as hell. Great improvement even without potential effect of grain on roll and more importantly chipping.

[Joe Hancock]

If we could get away from the infatuation of even having a pattern, the grass and the golf would be better for it.

Joe

[Jeff Bergeron]

What would the R&A say about this to a bunch of whining multimillionaires? Sounds like the typical country club member that bitches about everything.

[Patrick_Mucci]

Bill,

Frank Hanigan told me that the last people you wanted to listen to were the competitors, the PGA Tour Pros.

From an impartial perspective, competitors should have little or no say in how a course should be set up.
But, that would be contrary to the very nature of golf, where everyone views the course from the perspective of how it affects their particular game.

[PCancelmo]

I believe that RCC is also eliminating the step cut "fringe" from the perimeters of the fairways and greens in preparation for the Barclay's. 

[Alan FitzGerald CGCS MG]

FWIW this is nothing new. When I worked in Scotland in the 90s we had switched from striping to the half and half cut. We had a European Tour event and the tour didn't want the split look as they felt the players would gravitate toward the lighter side so the mowing pattern would dictate play.... We ended up mowing it all one way, it looked fantastic and the tour were happy.

The half and half cut is about a third quicker than striping due to the less turning. Mowing one way is great but you need a big fleet of mowers or parallel fairways to make it efficient.

[Tom Bacsanyi]

FWIW this is nothing new. When I worked in Scotland in the 90s we had switched from striping to the half and half cut. We had a European Tour event and the tour didn't want the split look as they felt the players would gravitate toward the lighter side so the mowing pattern would dictate play.... We ended up mowing it all one way, it looked fantastic and the tour were happy.

The half and half cut is about a third quicker than striping due to the less turning. Mowing one way is great but you need a big fleet of mowers or parallel fairways to make it efficient.

Here here.  Diesel/gasoline and labor are inputs, so those of you advocating efficient/minimalist maintenance practices can't concurrently be fans of single direction mowing.  /thread.

[Grant Saunders]

I have seen the green back to tee one direction cut justified as a way to reduce ball roll on tee shots.

Wouldn't it just be easier if the height of cut was lifted by a couple of mm? Surely any minimal (and probably dubious) ball roll differential based on the direction of cut would be less than the difference generated by the grass being kept longer.

[Pat Burke]

In this era of trying to make golf more affordable, we certainly need multiple mowers,
and one direction mowing.

[Patrick_Mucci]

In this era of trying to make golf more affordable, we certainly need multiple mowers,
and one direction mowing.

Pat,

I don't think that money is the issue when preparing a course for a PGA Tour event.

[noonan]

I love the half and half