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Mark_Rowlinson

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What are push ups?
« on: January 08, 2006, 03:50:55 PM »
The thread on Mid Ocean mentions push ups. I'm an ignorant Britisher for whom push ups were something I did back in the 1960s when I was doing circuit training in the school gym.  I'm totally out of the trade jargon. Please tell me what I am missing.

Mark_Rowlinson

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Re:What are push ups?
« Reply #1 on: January 08, 2006, 03:52:08 PM »
Sorry, I've just seen a fashion article in one of the weekend newspapers.  They are a kind of brassiere.  How could I not have known!

Chris Parker

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Re:What are push ups?
« Reply #2 on: January 08, 2006, 04:04:34 PM »
Mark,

You are not alone!  I, too, am wondering what push-ups are.  Maybe Tom or Christian can enlighten us?
 
"Undulation is the soul of golf." - H.N. Wethered

Brian Phillips

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:What are push ups?
« Reply #3 on: January 08, 2006, 04:15:33 PM »
Mark,

A push up green is a green that has been constructed using the local material in the area.  By that I mean, the top soil is pushed off to one side, the green is then shaped and the top soil is pushed back on top.

Some drainage might be put in or the soil modified with some sand but basically the green is made up of the local material, unlike a USGA green which is constructed with material brought in onto the site.

Cheers,

Brian
Bunkers, if they be good bunkers, and bunkers of strong character, refuse to be disregarded, and insist on asserting themselves; they do not mind being avoided, but they decline to be ignored - John Low Concerning Golf

Tom_Doak

  • Karma: +2/-1
Re:What are push ups?
« Reply #4 on: January 08, 2006, 05:12:02 PM »
Some people think it is a "style" of green, because a lot of smaller-scale courses just pushed a bunch of topsoil to the center, flattened off the pile, and that was a green.

Most superintendents, though, refer to everything which isn't a USGA or "California" sand-based green as a "push-up" green, regardless of the shaping, as Brian described.

Forrest Richardson

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Re:What are push ups?
« Reply #5 on: January 09, 2006, 10:18:33 AM »
I have seen plenty which were constructed with no regard for topsoil...simply push soils inward toward the green's center, shape and plant grass.

One of the tell-tale signs is a slightly elevated* green with low areas* surrounding...hopefully draining away from the front, but that, too, is not always the case.

*The elevated and low areas are in relationship to what the natural terrain appears to have been

The advantage of such greens is that can be constructed without hauling material from one part of the site to another. Hence: "push-up", rather than excavate, carry/haul and then build. The style is minimalist in some ways. After all, it is rather simple. But, many courses now constructed use earth-moving haulers (scrapers and dumps) to manage soils across hundreds of acres. The result, when properly deployed, can avoid the push-up look. A trained eye and designer can manage reasonable amounts of earthmoving to create an almost natural look and feel..as if features we set into some sort of existing terrain...even when one suited to great golf may not have been there to be begin with.
« Last Edit: January 09, 2006, 10:23:07 AM by Forrest Richardson »
— Forrest Richardson, Golf Course Architect/ASGCA
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