Height of cut 1920's-1930's

[Thomas Dai]

Help please.


I'm curious to know what the height of cut would have been on inland UK courses in the 1920's-1930's - both for greens and for fairways - and how often would they have been cut during the main season.


Also, how much fairway mowing would have been horse powered? Any details on greens mowing equipment would be appreciated.


Thanks in advance.


atb

[Bradley Anderson]

By the early 1920's most of the clubs in England, Scotland and America had switched out the original side wheel propelled mowers on greens to motorized reel mowers. The cut on the motorized mowers could be set as low as 3/16's of an inch.


On fairways the three and five gang mower was being pulled by either horse or tractor, but tractor technology had advanced to where one man could mow the course in less than half the time that it took with two men and two horses. The height of cut on the fairways was probably different at every club, but I would guess that the range would have been .5 inches at the elite clubs where the Carters Seed varieties where being used and up to 1.5 inches at clubs with smaller budgets.

[Thomas Dai]

Thanks Brad. Helpful details.
atb

[Michael Whitaker]

For reference, what would those heights compare to on today's courses? What, if anything, is cut at 3/16s today? What is cut at .5? Thanks!

[Adrian_Stiff]

Approx3mm = 1/8th inch
6mm = 1/4 inch
12mm = 1/2 inch or 0.5
18mm = 3/4 inch
25mm = 1 inch


From 1920s photos I have greens look c8mm, fairways look around an inch


Today in the UK summer heights rarely drop below  3mm, perhaps 4mm is even optimum
Fairways rarely below 12mm, usually between 13 and 18mm with no requirement for fairway irrigation at all.

[Bradley Anderson]

For reference, what would those heights compare to on today's courses? What, if anything, is cut at 3/16s today? What is cut at .5? Thanks!

3/16 is equivalent to .187 thousandths.


With the frequency of cut that we have today we can provide good playing surfaces with Greens heights of .125 and Fairways heights of .400.


You can get more run on the ball below these heights, but at some point there are diminishing returns to dropping the mowers.


The Poa annua era of golf in America was largely driven by mowing at heights below what the original Piper & Oakley varieties could tolerate. If they had kept the heights above .130 those old varieties would have had a fighting chance against Poa invasion. But the green speed would have stayed around 8-10 feet at that height and modern golfers grew impatient with those speeds. Thankfully now we have varieties that can tolerate the close mowing. It's a shame though, because those Piper & Oakley selections were wonderful playing surfaces, especially the Toronto C-15 bent. I had the privilege of keeping a pure set of Toronto greens. I never dropped below .130 and they averaged 10-11 if they were kept on the dry and hungry side.