Was AGNC Too Green?

[David_Tepper]

http://www.geoffshackelford.com/homepage/2015/4/16/third-masters-question-is-augusta-national-too-green.html

[Benjamin Litman]

With apologies, David! We posted the same article at the same time! I'm happy to delete mine if you'd prefer.

[John Kavanaugh]

Why not both delete your threads and use the comment section provided by Geoff on his blog.

[Rich Goodale]

To me, the color was OK, but the number of trees was not, particularly when one has viewed Sven's great thread showing the pictures from 1935.  The time for chain saws at midnight seems to have arrived for Augusta.....

[Mike Schott]

I believe it was Ian Baker-Finch who made a comment during the telecast that firm and fast is a course's best defense against perfect weather. He was referring IIRC to the soft greens.

[Mike Hendren]

This just in:  in the South rye grass is either very green or very dead.  For fun I overseeded my small Nashville area lawn with Rye and after a little rain it is astonishingly - wait for it - green.  In the absence of rain it is - wait for it - green.

If you've ever played Augusta Country Club in the summer and peaked through the fence at the 11th, 12th and 13th fairways you know they look like a golf course gone to seed.

Too green is a silly question.  It's just a damn color.

Bogey

[Bart Bradley]

This just in:  in the South rye grass is either very green or very dead.  For fun I overseeded my small Nashville area lawn with Rye and after a little rain it is astonishingly - wait for it - green.  In the absence of rain it is - wait for it - green.

If you've ever played Augusta Country Club in the summer and peaked through the fence at the 11th, 12th and 13th fairways you know they look like a golf course gone to seed.

Too green is a silly question.  It's just a damn color.

Bogey

I am with Mike.  Not too green.  Too soft.

Bart

[Will MacEwen]

I thought it was a little shaggy.  Balls seem to run off less, and stick on slopes. 

[Jeremy Rudock]

nm

[BHoover]

I've asked some friends who've been to the Masters this question--how tight is the fairway cut at ANGC? I assume it's not the super tight cut that seems to be the case on fescue fairways such as on a links course. From the telecast, it's tough to tell how tight the fairways are cut, at times they appear to be fairly tightly cut but other times the fairways appear relatively shaggy. Is that the case?

[Josh Tarble]

I've asked some friends who've been to the Masters this question--how tight is the fairway cut at ANGC? I assume it's not the super tight cut that seems to be the case on fescue fairways such as on a links course. From the telecast, it's tough to tell how tight the fairways are cut, at times they appear to be fairly tightly cut but other times the fairways appear relatively shaggy. Is that the case?

I do believe it's relatively high  - I thought I remember hearing them make a big deal that it would be cut at 1/2 inch last year.

[Mike Hendren]

Regardless, I strongly encourage anyone attending a practice round to grab a seat in the bleachers behind the first green late in the day after the final golfers have passed through.  It is fascinating to watch the legion of workers descend on the golf course en mass.

Bogey

[Pat Burke]

Never ending battle.  Look good, but try to answer the length players have these days.
Like Merion, who left the fairways a bit longer to slow the ball down,
Augusta mows toward the tees, and didn't seem to fight FOR firm and fast.  It was pretty
wet in Atlanta last week for the qualifier I played in, so I wouldn't be surprised that there
was a lot of moisture in the soil still.

Of course, get it firm and fast, and watch the ball roll forever down those hills at Augusta, and
Geoff Shack will have 10 threads of the ball goes to far.  Too green, to far, too something.  All the time.

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/9e/34/89/9e34899525dd696b2a95cdea8c929374.jpg

[Brent Hutto]

Yes and if they made the ball fly 50 yards shorter off the driver, the same people would complain that it spins too much. Or doesn't spin enough. Or is too durable. or some damned thing.

[jeffwarne]

This just in:  in the South rye grass is either very green or very dead.  For fun I overseeded my small Nashville area lawn with Rye and after a little rain it is astonishingly - wait for it - green.  In the absence of rain it is - wait for it - green.

Bogey

You nailed it Bogey
the grass was the same color it always was-dark green
The fairways a bit lusher and slower due to the high temperatures of that week and a few previous which caused the bermuda to be thriving underneath

[JESII]

This just in:  in the South rye grass is either very green or very dead.  For fun I overseeded my small Nashville area lawn with Rye and after a little rain it is astonishingly - wait for it - green.  In the absence of rain it is - wait for it - green.

Bogey

You nailed it Bogey
the grass was the same color it always was-dark green
The fairways a bit lusher and slower due to the high temperatures of that week and a few previous which caused the bermuda to be thriving underneath

Come on Rednecks...you know Green is a euphemism for Soft in that header...

Was Augusta manipulated to be softer than nature would have presented? Seemed like a wet forecast but I really don't know what led up to the event...

[John Kavanaugh]

Please, one week a course is too firm, the next week a course is too soft. This stems from a media driven by the need to make a living saying something new everyday of the week. It's an impossible task to stay interesting without promoting the extreme.

If you want an honest conversation find someone who is not getting paid.

[A.G._Crockett]

This just in:  in the South rye grass is either very green or very dead.  For fun I overseeded my small Nashville area lawn with Rye and after a little rain it is astonishingly - wait for it - green.  In the absence of rain it is - wait for it - green.

Bogey

You nailed it Bogey
the grass was the same color it always was-dark green
The fairways a bit lusher and slower due to the high temperatures of that week and a few previous which caused the bermuda to be thriving underneath

Correct, of course.  For another view, watch the Champions Tour this weekend at TPC Sugarloaf, another overseeded course.  I played there three weeks ago, and it is every bit as green as ANGC.

Rye grass ain't like the artificial turf on the Boise State football field; it only comes in one color.  And that color can best be described as Really, Really, Really Green.

Now as to why the course was soft, let me just say to those of you outside the SE that it has rained so much that even the concrete is soft right now.  I have played on so many wet, soggy golf courses in 3 states over the last couple of months that I've lost count.

[Craig Sweet]

Some serious morons posting on Shakleford's blog....

[jeffwarne]

This just in:  in the South rye grass is either very green or very dead.  For fun I overseeded my small Nashville area lawn with Rye and after a little rain it is astonishingly - wait for it - green.  In the absence of rain it is - wait for it - green.

Bogey

You nailed it Bogey
the grass was the same color it always was-dark green

The fairways a bit lusher and slower due to the high temperatures of that week and a few previous which caused the bermuda to be thriving underneath

Come on Rednecks...you know Green is a euphemism for Soft in that header...

Was Augusta manipulated to be softer than nature would have presented? Seemed like a wet forecast but I really don't know what led up to the event...

I guess they manipulated Palmetto to be in same condition-despite the fact that Palmetto greens are bermuda.
The overseeded fairways were the same speed and texture due to the same healthy Bermuda underneath.

[Brent Hutto]

My club's greens (up I-20 about 90 minutes from Augusta) never, ever get what I'd call soft. They were just regrassed less than two years ago with one of the new ultrafine hybrids and are still hard like new Bermuda greens tend to be.

But they've been as receptive as they're ever going to get these past couple weeks. And according to the weather radar we've only had maybe 3/4 as much rain as Augusta has received in March and April.

I'm tending toward agreeing with the theory that Sub-Air is less magical than its reputation might suggest. What I saw on TV at the Masters seemed just about exactly like I'd expect very well drained and well maintained Bent greens to be, given the weather conditions.

[Dave McCollum]

I wish I could find the link, but somehow last week I stumbled on a blog by an Australian Super who spent three years as an assistant super at ANGC.  He described in great detail how the course is maintained on a year around basis, with a special emphasis on the build up to the Masters.  As someone who struggles to keep our maintenance meld in line with our affordable pricing, in other words, “just good enough,” it was both fascinating and Oz-like.  My take is that it is all in the attention to details and the people doing the work.  At his time there, he said they had a permanent year-around staff of 12, including a full time agronomist.  My impression was that the process is very consistent from year to year with the major variant the weather. 

A few tidbits that surprised me:

They use as little fertilizer and water as they can to keep the grass from growing and reduce clippings.
They sharpen the mower reels daily to insure the grass is cut, not ripped.
For the month leading up to Masters Week, they hand water everything.
The greens are tested daily for water content, nutrients, health, etc.
The prep crew of 40 is expanded by about 60 volunteers for the final prep and tournament.
Everyone must sign a confidentiality agreement, so he couldn’t tell all.

And so on.  Interesting stuff, at least to me.  I wish I could post the link.

[Jason Thurman]

People have joked for years that golf would eventually be a game played indoors on simulators where pros wouldn't have to worry about bad bounces or iffy conditions. Turns out it's the bloggers who are going to push the game indoors, because outdoor weather patterns either result in courses that are too dry and firm like Royal Melbourne/Riviera, or courses that are too green and soft like Augusta. If Geoldilocks Shackelford will ever find a course setup that's just right, it's most likely going to come on a simulator.

[Keith OHalloran]

It certainly seems that the ANGC bashing has reached the level of absurdity. A website whose members abhor the thought of riding in a cart because it is not in keeping with the spirit and roots of the game, is now full of people complaining that ANGC did not properly utilize its sub air system to artificially sock all the moisture out if the greens. Ok. 

[John Kavanaugh]

Jason,

Mark my words...The Olympic course will be just right.  I just wish it wasn't so predictable.