Is It Time For Augusta To Change the Way It Looks?

[Phil Benedict]

I was parsing through the Golf Digest's section on golf and the environment yesterday and came to the conclusion that the golf industry has become more environmentally sensitive but still uses too much water and chemicals.  There were a number of comments about Augusta National being unnaturally green, setting a bad example given how influential the course is in the golf industry.  The impact of the Augusta look has long been commented upon here, but this is the first time I've seen anything that might be considered critical commentary in a mainstream golf publication.

As decreased water and chemical use becomes the norm in golf maintainance procedures, with the inevitable browning of large turf areas, can Augusta continue to flaunt a look that is so out-of-step with the rest of the industry?

[Joe Hancock]

Phil,

I would argue that Augusta is perfectly in step with the industry, but not in perfect stride with the game...strictly from a role model point of view. As a club, the can and do anything they care to afford.

Joe

[Dan Herrmann]

Phil,
Augusta isn't unnaturally green for a golf course in Georgia in mid-April.  I drove down there from Philly in 2005 and was amazed how green EVERYTHING is down there at this time of year.  Shoot - even the Checkers we stopped at for a burger had a perfect green lawn.

[Phil Benedict]

Phil,
Augusta isn't unnaturally green for a golf course in Georgia in mid-April.  I drove down there from Philly in 2005 and was amazed how green EVERYTHING is down there at this time of year.  Shoot - even the Checkers we stopped at for a burger had a perfect green lawn.

Dan,

So Augusta comes by its look naturally?  If so, the course was sort of slandered by Golf Digest, which characterized the 'Augusta look' as
"freakishly green wall-to-wall grass on a life-support system of too much water and toxic chemicals, greens running at virtually unplayable speeds, ornamental flowers all over the place."

[Gary Daughters]

Dan,

Trust me, nothing down here is as green as Augusta in April.

Geoff Ogilvy had some interesting comments linked today by Geoff Shackelford.

“As things stand, the turf is too soft for the course to truly play ‘firm and fast.’ On holes like the 5th, where Jones wanted you to run the approach shot in, you can’t do it because the ground is too soft. So it isn’t just on the greens where too much water is applied. But if they cut back on that they would lose the ‘greenness’ of the place. If you look at the pictures of Augusta back in the 1970s, the course wasn’t green at all. It was a motley brown, just as it should be really.

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m a huge fan of the course – especially the putting surfaces – and Augusta does look pretty special when it is as green as they like it to be, but that verdant colouring does compromise how it plays. It’s a shame. They are missing the point really. Surely what we shoot should not matter. But everyone seems to think it does these days. And what has been lost is the fun we should be having playing the course and, in turn, the fun the spectators should be having watching us. The original point of the Masters was that it should be fun to play and fun to watch.”

[Dan Herrmann]

Thanks guys, I stand corrected.

As far as the softness, isn't that due to the heavy rain on Saturday?  I'll bet they have the place sub-air'd out by Wednesday at the latest.

When I was there in '05 (Tuesday/Wednesday), it was wall-to-wall green, and firm as could be.  Unfortunately, it rained on Thursday and the course was softened up.

[jeffwarne]

Augusta in the 70's was GREEN.
They used overseeded rye then as well.
Ogilvie is probably referring to earlier years before they overseeded and played the event earlier; in which case the course would look like most of the rest of the courses in the area-i.e. dormant bermuda just beginning to green up. -It has nothing to do with water, but rather grass type.

The fairways at Winged Foot are no browner than the fairways at Augusta.IF they get good weather, the course will play firm-Ogilvie's not played there long enough to remember a dry week.

[Patrick_Mucci]

Phil,

What you don't understand is that ANGC ONLY looks that way in the spring.

Go there in Oct, Nov, Dec, Jan and Feb and see how RADICALLY different the course looks.

The golf course PEAKS for The Masters and doesn't bear any resemblance to what you see on TV in the months mentioned above.

The course also closes in May for the summer.

So you see but a few chosen frames from a lengthy film, and not the entire film.

You see what TV wants you to see, not what's there during the bulk of the golfing season.

[Doug Spets]

Patrick.....

Please explain to me the radical difference in the course during the fall and winter months.  (with the exception of blooming trees and shrubs & patron seating areas)

[Phil Benedict]

Patrick,

How does Augusta get to look the way it does in early April?  By overseeding, which as you and Geoff Ogilvie have pointed out is the "enemy of fast and firm" and, as others have pointed out (including Mike Hurdzan in this month's GD), isn't environmentally sound.

[Patrick_Mucci]

Patrick.....

Please explain to me the radical difference in the course during the fall and winter months.  (with the exception of blooming trees and shrubs & patron seating areas)

Doug,

Go to the "Farmer's Almanac", look up the weather patterns and interpolate them with the agronomic conditions they cause, then convert those conditions to the look, feel and playability of the golf course.

It's radically different in April.

[Patrick_Mucci]

Patrick,

How does Augusta get to look the way it does in early April? 
By overseeding, which as you and Geoff Ogilvie have pointed out is the "enemy of fast and firm" and, as others have pointed out (including Mike Hurdzan in this month's GD), isn't environmentally sound.

Phil,

You're missing the point and the circumstances that are unique to ANGC.

The overseeding that you claim, is irrelevant to the play of the golf course after the Masters because the golf course closes for about 5 months, shortly thereafter.

There is NO long term after affect, no transition out of the overseeding, because the club is closed when that would occur.

[Phil Benedict]

Patrick,

So you're saying overseeding is ok if it makes Augusta look pretty on TV but it's not ok at the courses you play in Florida in the winter?  Doesn't the overseeding and related watering soften up and slow down the course for the Masters and for member play in the spring?  Ogilvie seems to think so.

[jeffwarne]

If it rains heavily tournament week (as it has the past few years) and they haven't overseeded, the course will stay play soft (just like the rest of the courses in Augusta when wet)
Playing on dormant bermuda won't change the clay base.


If Ogilvie ever wins they'll give him a brown jacket.
For now it's green and he should direct more of his focus to winning one

[Patrick_Mucci]

Patrick,

So you're saying overseeding is ok if it makes Augusta look pretty on TV but it's not ok at the courses you play in Florida in the winter? 

Phil,

Do me a favor.

Go to the Farmer's Almanac, or another data base and analyze the conditions in Miami in Oct, Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb and March with those in Augusta, Georgia.

You'll see a DRAMATIC difference

You'll be shocked by the temperature differences.
Now equate those differences to agronomic practices in conjunction with the "seasons"

Doesn't the overseeding and related watering soften up and slow down the course for the Masters and for member play in the spring? 

NO

Evidently you don't understand the timing of overseeding with respect to the transition IN and the transition OUT.[/color]

Ogilvie seems to think so.

Is that like going to a great number of doctors until you find one that agrees with your opinion ?[/color]

[Phil Benedict]

Pat,

Augusta did fine through the 60's with Bermuda fairways and (greens for that matter).  It only began to overseed in the 70's for what I assume were cosmetic reasons (ie to enhance the look of the course for the second week in April).  I could be wrong but I'm guessing it was not for playability.  The switch to bentgrass greens was in the early '80's presumably to make them play faster, which of course encouraged other courses to blindly pursue faster green speens.

The process will probably play out over decades but I think that (for environmental reasons) the standard look of golf courses will change - brown will become more acceptable because of less liberal watering, use of chemicals and overseeding.  Eventually Augusta will be an outlier if it continues with its over-manicured look.  This won't happen soon though.

What's interesting is that environmental factors are likely to result in better playing conditions - faster and firmer.

[Gary Daughters]

Headline from today's Atlanta Journal-Constitution/online

Masters course soft, slow so far

Measures being taken to siphon moisture from turf

[Brian Noser]

I was there yesterday and the sub air was howling... it was playing pretty soft players not getting much roll on fairway or greens. I am sure it will dry out though I believe they are predicting good weather for the rest of the week...

[jeffwarne]

So if it rains (a natural event) and the fairways are soft, that's not ok, but if subair is used to firm them up that is?

Methinks the natural police are hypocritical.

[Bradley Anderson]

Let's set the record strait about Augusta's color. Through the green, the color of Augusta is achieved by overseeding with rye grass at a fairly high rate.

No doubt there is some fertilizer applied, but when you have a perfect genetic monostand of grass with virtually no segregation , what you get is a very brilliant shade of green that really doesn't require high levels of fertilizer, the like of which are needed to mask variation of species or cultivars.

Augusta also uses soil heaters under some of the turf areas to stimulate growth in cold spells, and underground air infusion systems to maintain a healthy air to water ratio, which must certainly reduce the use of fungicides.

In my opinion Augusta is actually a very environmently sound operation.

[Gary Daughters]

Bradley,

Since you obviously know your stuff, why does it smell so god-awful rank after a good rain?  I always figured it had something do with fertilizer, and probably lots of it.

[Patrick_Mucci]

Pat,

Augusta did fine through the 60's with Bermuda fairways and (greens for that matter). 

Are you suggesting that they return to Bermuda greens and fairways ?[/color]

It only began to overseed in the 70's for what I assume were cosmetic reasons (ie to enhance the look of the course for the second week in April). 

I'd question that assumption.
Bermuda in April in Georgia should look just fine.
And, don't forget the filters on cameras which can accentuate the colors.[/color]

I could be wrong but I'm guessing it was not for playability. 

I don't know the reason, but, I'm sure someone does.[/color]

The switch to bentgrass greens was in the early '80's presumably to make them play faster, which of course encouraged other courses to blindly pursue faster green speens.

If you've ever watched Arnold Palmer slam putts like he was using a sledge hammer, I don't think it's imprudent to make the switch from Bermuda.

Southern Hills did the same thing.

And, even some clubs in south Florida tried it.

I had thought that the greens were altered prior to 1981, but, I'll have to double check.[/color]

The process will probably play out over decades but I think that (for environmental reasons) the standard look of golf courses will change - brown will become more acceptable because of less liberal watering, use of chemicals and overseeding. 

Eventually Augusta will be an outlier if it continues with its over-manicured look. 

The problem with you and most everyone else is that your only impression of ANGC is that obtained during Masters week.

You have no concept of what the golf course is like for the balance of the season.

And, Masters week is "showtime" for the network.

You're seeing but one frame out of hundreds, but, judging all hundred frames based on your view of one frame.[/color]

This won't happen soon though.

What's interesting is that environmental factors are likely to result in better playing conditions - faster and firmer.

ANGC doesn't want the Masters contested on a sloppy track.[/color]

[Joe Hancock]

Pat,

Greenkeeping has changed immensely over the years, from topdressing practices to mowing equipment to rolling practices, verticutting, etc. Don't attribute all the improvements of the current greens over the old bermuda greens entirely to the conversion to bentgrass.

Perennial ryegrass, the type that Augusta and most other southern courses overseed fairways and tees with, are genetically bred for dark green color, and apart from certain Kentucky Bluegrasses, there's no darker grass. They are a much darker green than bermudagrass.

Arnold Palmer probably doesn't have to slam his putts as hard on the modern bermuda grasses under modern maintenance techniques,  so once again, don't give all the credit to bentgrass.

I don't know what Augusta's budgets or quantities are for input materials (fertilizers, pesticides, etc.) but a great deal of the courses' appearance is attributed to meticulous detail in the labor efforts. The perfectly edged bunkers, the lack of debris and litter, and even the pond skimming with swimming pool tools all adds up significantly to the presentation during Masters week....above and beyond fertilizer and pesticides.

Joe

[MargaretC]

From my perspective, if Augusta weren't Augusta, I would have no desire to ever play the course.  I am not a fan of over-planted, over-flowered golf courses.  Just looking at some of the flower displays on TV makes me itch and get the smiffles.   

Of course, Augusta is Augusta.  It's the history that makes it special and for that reason alone, I would love to play it.

[Michael Whitaker]

And, don't forget the filters on cameras which can accentuate the colors.

Patrick - Are you still trying to sell "the cameras make it look greener than it really is" theory concerning the Masters telecast?

Since you wouldn't stand up to your previous bet challenge I'll give you this one for free... according to the production department at CBS, during the Masters telecast the "Senior Video Operator tries to replicate actual conditions with red, blue and green from the Production Truck.  Cameras are standard set." This is from a direct source at the network.

Sorry to burst your green bubble.