A question for supers

[Matthew Schulte]

There is no question that prolonged searches for lost balls is a leading contributor to slow play.  What strategies have you successfully employed to make your courses' native areas less dense and more playable?

Thank you.

[Peter Nomm]

Hey Matthew - we have a lot of native areas and it is a continual work in progress for us.  (FYI I am not a super but I work with mine daily).  The first thing we had to do was be sure those areas were not being irrigated.  Over the past few years we have replaced hundreds of heads, adding part-circles, or simply turning off some.  However, this is not a perfect science, either. 

Part of the fix is to also monitor where necessary water is reaching these areas and, it if is impractical to change the head, we have cut back some of the long grass and maintained it as regular rough.  And also, be careful if you fertilize through the irrigation system, as it is easy to feed the long grass too.

The question that needs to be addressed is this - can we deal with the fact that some of the rough will be a bit more brown as it nears the native grasses?  If the course is adament that green grass must exist right up to the long grass lines, then they need to be prepared to spend the $$$ for it.  We have had a company bid to add a line of what are essentially like residential pop-up heads to some of our greens surrounds.  We could easily spend $75k to achieve a perfect look - it costs on average $5000 per green complex. 

Finally, there were a few areas that looked great, but were simply too much in play to create a problem.  We had a spot 200-yards from the first tee that got water and was really thick.  We ended up cutting that back and it looks great now, but sometimes you have to sacrifice the native areas.  However, we are contantly looking at where we can add the areas too, so in the long-run it works out.

[Mike McGuire]

Peter-

What type of plant works the best for you in the native areas?  Fescues ? Little bluestem?

[Peter Nomm]

Mike - no doubt fescues work the best in the areas that are in play.  Sheep's fescue is most prevalent.  Unfortunately, there is a significant portion of the long grasses that have a lot of bluegrass for various reasons.  That is where we have the greatest problem with it being too dense.

One other thing I failed to mention in the earlier post is that we cut it all back each fall.  Completely down to about 2" or 3".  At least it gets rid of clumping and lets it grow fresh each spring.

[Richard_Cutler]

Matthew

Keep inputs to a minimum or even better zero. So no water and no fertiliser. If growth remains strong then a cut and bale operation should be undertaken as required maybe annually or bi-annually. Removing the arisings is an absolutely crucial part of this operation. This will help remove nutrient from the area thus altering the growth character. After cutting the area, thinning of the remaining sward could be undertaken to further reduce the possibility of thick growth in the future.

The species that is grown in the area is obviously crucial so this should be examined and adapted as necessary.

Despite all this it is interesting to note that we have recorded the pace of play on a Saturday(busiest day) around one of our courses for the past four years. Despite the "unmanaged" rough areas varying from very thick to non-existent depending on the season etc. the players pace of play does not change much. 

Get them to play a provisional more often!

[Eric Morrison]

I have found that a crabgrass control and weed control program helps as well. Getting just the grass and not all the other stuff growing helps keep it somewhat manageable.

[Joe Hancock]

Look into the benefits of doing periodic controlled burns in naturalized areas. It can be a management tool to keep things under control.

Joe