Le Golf National - Let's talk setup for the Ryder Cup

[Adam Lawrence]

Regarding the green speeds, yesterday the French Golf Federation posted on their web site that the greens were being kept to a little over 10 ft. on the stimpmeter, as per the request of the European captain, and judging from what I saw on TV yesterday, they looked to be about that. Apparently, Bjorn thinks that favors his guys. I know all the European team play more on the U.S. Tour, but maybe he figures they learned to play on slower greens so they can adapt better.

They were aiming for 10.5 stimp. There was a bit of a kerfuffle Thursday afternoon as a few of the greens had got a fair bit faster than that, so they took the decision (which stumped everyone I was with) to apply a light feed of straight N on Thursday night, along with some water.

[Steve Okula]

Water will, in theory, thicken the leaf blades and slow ball roll with increased resistance, ditto for a foliar application of soluble nitrogen. I read a study that showed 30% of N thus applied is immediately absorbed by the plant.

The cool, dry, and windy conditions will tend to increase speeds.

[Adam Lawrence]

Water will, in theory, thicken the leaf blades and slow ball roll with increased resistance, ditto for a foliar application of soluble nitrogen. I read a study that showed 30% of N thus applied is immediately absorbed by the plant.

The cool, dry, and windy conditions will tend to increase speeds.

Yeah, we got the theory (I've been hanging out with greenkeepers all week  ) but there was a lot of doubt that it would have any impact overnight (I hadn't heard that 30 per cent thing).

[Steve Okula]

The water will probably slow it down a lot more than the N. It would take a pretty good dose of the latter to make an immediate difference on speeds, and I doubt they would dare to put out a ton and risk burns or streaking or some disaster.

Anyway, the small amount of nitrogen they applied will make the greens look a little prettier over the weekend, and it's obvious from this splendiferous venue that the Federation Française de Golf puts a premium on appearances.

[Adam Clayman]

From the TV, This course looks like Von Hagge borrowed quite a bit from Pete Dye. Was PB on the crew?

[Jon Wiggett]

Water will, in theory, thicken the leaf blades and slow ball roll with increased resistance, ditto for a foliar application of soluble nitrogen. I read a study that showed 30% of N thus applied is immediately absorbed by the plant.

The cool, dry, and windy conditions will tend to increase speeds.

Yeah, we got the theory (I've been hanging out with greenkeepers all week  ) but there was a lot of doubt that it would have any impact overnight (I hadn't heard that 30 per cent thing).

Maybe a little bit of sugared water would do the trick? Of course a slight increase in the height of cut would too though my favourite idea would be applying a liberal amount of golden syrup which would definitely do the trick