Fairway mounding - should cut at fairway height or not ?

[Paul Jones]

We have a few holes that have mounds on the edge of the fairways.  There has been some discussions if the mounds should be cut at fairway height and allow for the ball to roll back into the fairway or cut it same height as the rough.

What do other courses/architects do and why?

[Jeff_Brauer]

As with most maintenance issues, the answer is always "it depends."

In my experience, you can probably cut the base of the mounds and part way up the slope at fairway height, as long as the slope is under 20%, maybe 16-17%, depending on grass type, with bent probably the most sensitive to cuts on slopes. 

Also to factor in is areas where mowers turn, as a combo of stress factors seems to take turf out quickly. A combo of steep slope where the mower makes a tight turn would probably suffer. Of course, you need more irrigation, so sprinklers need to be nearby, and I have seen cases where fairways (or greens) facing into prevailing winds work less well on slopes than ones facing away.

Equipment might make a difference.  I would guess if you did a clean up pass with a lighter mower on those slopes, it would be slightly better, depending on what you use in the fw.  On the other hand, turf dying is sort of like being partly pregnant. It seems like once the stress factors add up, it is hard for it to survive in a weak condition for too long.

Others experience might vary, depending on location. It will be interesting to hear from the supers.

[Paul Jones]

Jeff,

Thank You for your reply, I live in Louisiana and it is all Bermuda grass.  I am interested in hearing what the Supers thoughts, but also what the architect thoughts are when adding mounding. Is it to help the ball back into play (short grass) or penalize an errant shot (in the rough on the mound, uneven lie).

[Jeff_Brauer]

Paul,

I use a fw cut up the slope for a few reasons -  it is more visible if on the outside of a dogleg (sort of like banking Indy turns), it does help kick shots back to the middle, when I want that.  I used to think grass mounds were fairer hazard for the average player, but after seeing many try to hit off those side slopes, I don't like steeper mounds along a fairway, as they are tough.

One of my aha moments came when playing with Pete Dye once.  He showed me how he kept his fairway lines straight, even as they encountered elevation changes.  This gives the actual fw/rough cut delineation vertical movement, as opposed to  typical shaping of fairway cuts around numerous mounds where the fw cut is flat, and often look like sharks teeth to me.

Of course, I do realize that the typical mowing operator tends to follow the level route (or his machine does) leaving me with the dilemma of exaggerating it so it looks good when reduced in the future, or going with something along the lines of what is easier to mow, hoping they stick with it.