With this heat wave I've noticed something disturbing,

[Bradley Anderson]

Patrick

At 25% water concentration the soil is too wet.

At 12% or lower the soils begin the process of becoming hydrophobic (water repellant - very expensive to restore moisture to the soil).

The ideal moisture for fast and firm is around 13-15%. These numbers vary from course to course, and even between areas on the same course because of soil and grass differences, but some generalizations can be made.

My own course has been playing soft in the mornings here lately when it is 100 degrees with less than 30% humidity and 20 mph gusts. But by mid to late afternoon it is US Open firm. The moisture is being sucked out of the soil almost faster than it can be replaced by irrigation.

[Bradley Anderson]

Peter,

The idea that grass can be weaned from water is not entirely accurate. Grass does not change its genetics based on how it is managed.

What you can do is manage for the hardier grasses in the mix (bent grass) and let them prevail over the weaker grasses Poa annua), but you are not going to see immediate results from that program.

Aeration and water practices that allow the roots to grow deeper will also help you to ride the moisture curve closer to wilting point because the grass draws from a larger capacity of soil.

But understand that in this kind of weather the soil looses its moisture at an incredible rate. In June we lost over 10 inches of moisture in Chicago and it only rained 2 inches. Thats close to 3 tenths of an inch every day.

[Peter Pallotta]

Bradley - thanks for your post. I wouldn't want to mis-represent Joe's approach (which I was remembering through the filter of time and my own ignorance) -- and indeed, what you describe in terms of hardier grasses with deeper roots is what Joe did at hiw own course over a long period of consistent maintenance practices.

Peter

[Wayne_Kozun]

Only a drought with restrictions or a dramatic increase in the cost of water will quickly  change the "green is paramount" mindset.

Do golf courses pay for water?  Here in the city of Toronto the old clubs generally draw water from the creeks and rivers running through the courses.  That will not be allowed in the future so the clubs have all built reservoirs which will be filled from off season rain and snow plus tapping into the rivers when they have excess water flow in the spring.  Therefore we don't really have a variable cost for water unless the reservoir runs dry.

[Ryan DeMay]

Ryan, et. al.,

Rather than chemical additives, wouldn't the grass be better off if it was weaned from its dependence on excessive volumes of water ?

Volumes required to keep it green ?

Mr. Mucci,

The products that I mentioned again are just a tool to cope with heat stress mainly, and drought stress to a lesser extent.  In effect, if the canopy temperature of the turf can be reduced 5-10° F that means the plant can be more efficient at the physiological processes sustaining its life, and thus consume less water than a plant under more stress.  Again, this is not a silver bullet and the cost of these products make it such that most facilities could not use it on all playing surfaces on a regular basis.  It is however, a nice tool to have at one's disposal when things start heating up as they have here in the Midwest over the last two or three weeks.

As for weaning the turf off it's dependence on water, it's not as simple as lowering the run times on the sprinklers each night.  Until you get clubs and all of the appropriate stakeholders (ownership, BOD, greens chairman, superintendent, golf professional, GM, etc.) to buy in,  brown, yellow, purple, green isn't going to happen.  Unfortunately, for a lot of superintendents the season is long and lacks a truly objective manner in which to judge the condition of the golf course, unless of course you've lost grass.  Couple that lack of good job performance metrics with static or lowered maintenance budgets, inefficient irrigation systems, and a disconnect between the stakeholders as to what the true goal of the maintenance operation is and you have arrived your destination of a wet, green golf course.  It might not be pretty to you and hell, it might not even be pretty to the person charged with its care but, it's accepted and people still come out to play golf.

Now for me as a superintendent, I am very fortunate to have a good group of people to work for that understand what is involved and WANT firm and fast conditions.  It doesn't come without its headaches of some people that want an emerald green golf course from property line to property line, or dealing with traffic of 100 plus rounds where turf is already on the edge, or working our butts off right up until the next rain event that wipes the slate clean and we start the dry down process again.  Making firm and fast a reality here is made easier by the fact that our club is less than ten years old and thus we are growing 99% bentgrass on all of the main playing surfaces and we have great resources in terms of labor (hand watering) and the irrigation system.  That is to say that not all clubs are on equal footing when it comes to commencing a program to produce firm fast conditions (i.e. poor soil, inadequate aerification in previous years, higher percentages of annual bluegrass, etc.).

The bottom line is it is up to each club or course's leadership to determine what's right for them in terms of how firm and fast they want to see their place.  Once the decision is made it is then up to the superintendent to develop, sell, and implement a plan based on the resources available to provide those conditions.  In a lot of cases, and as counter-intuitive as it may sound, it may require more resources to go this route.

[Ryan DeMay]

Peter,

The idea that grass can be weaned from water is not entirely accurate. Grass does not change its genetics based on how it is managed.

What you can do is manage for the hardier grasses in the mix (bent grass) and let them prevail over the weaker grasses Poa annua), but you are not going to see immediate results from that program.

Aeration and water practices that allow the roots to grow deeper will also help you to ride the moisture curve closer to wilting point because the grass draws from a larger capacity of soil.

But understand that in this kind of weather the soil looses its moisture at an incredible rate. In June we lost over 10 inches of moisture in Chicago and it only rained 2 inches. Thats close to 3 tenths of an inch every day.

Brad does make a good point about something I alluded to, albeit poorly, in my post above.  The type of turf (bentgrass, fescue, annual bluegrass, bermuda, etc.) and even in some cases the culitvar of turf (see A1, L-93 bentgrass or Mini-Verde or Tif-Eagle bermuda) is perhaps the most important part of the firm and fast dynamic.

Think of it like this: Sure, you can take your station wagon to the drag strip and race it with no problems but, how many times will you have to get your head kicked in before you pony up and buy a Maserati or a Ferrari? Being able to afford the Maserati, or in the case here, regrassing or annual intereseeding is another discussion altogether.  Or maybe you spend a smaller sum of money and try make your station wagon the fastest station wagon possible and enjoy it.  Again, just some more decisions that have to be made to get to the destination of firm and fast.

[Bradley Anderson]

Ryan,

Let me add one important point of clarification: even with a deep rooted grass like A4, that has ten times the root mass as Poa annua, you still have to maintain enough soil moisture to prevent hydrophopic soils from forming at the surface of the profile.

Once the moisture levels fall below 12% the organic matter in the soil attaches itself to the exchange sites on the soil particles that are there for the purpose of holding water. The organic matter forms a coating around the soil particle that actually repels water. Now you have to use two or three times the amount of water to the reestablish soil moisture.

So yes, there are many grasses that may draw from deeper water reserves, but when its 100 degrees, dry and windy, your irrigation programs are now based on maintaining enough surface moisture to mitigate hydrophobic conditions. You will actually use less water in the long run if you maintain the molecular chain of water through the entire profile.

After we get back to 65-85 degree days and moderate humidity, the soils can be allowed to dry down more uniformly.

One of the unusual things about 2012 is the intense heat hit us in June when we have the longest daylight hours of the year. We normally don't have this intensity of heat until we get to mid July and August when the days are slightly shorter.

We had a superintendents meeting here a couple weeks ago and by the third week of June we all had applied as much water as we had  applied in the entire year of 2011. This is an odd year to be sure.

[Ryan DeMay]

Ryan,

Let me add one important point of clarification: even with a deep rooted grass like A4, that has ten times the root mass as Poa annua, you still have to maintain enough soil moisture to prevent hydrophopic soils from forming at the surface of the profile.

Once the moisture levels fall below 12% the organic matter in the soil attaches itself to the exchange sites on the soil particles that are there for the purpose of holding water. The organic matter forms a coating around the soil particle that actually repels water. Now you have to use two or three times the amount of water to the reestablish soil moisture.

So yes, there are many grasses that may draw from deeper water reserves, but when its 100 degrees, dry and windy, your irrigation programs are now based on maintaining enough surface moisture to mitigate hydrophobic conditions. You will actually use less water in the long run if you maintain the molecular chain of water through the entire profile.

After we get back to 65-85 degree days and moderate humidity, the soils can be allowed to dry down more uniformly.

One of the unusual things about 2012 is the intense heat hit us in June when we have the longest daylight hours of the year. We normally don't have this intensity of heat until we get to mid July and August when the days are slightly shorter.

We had a superintendents meeting here a couple weeks ago and by the third week of June we all had applied as much water as we had  applied in the entire year of 2011. This is an odd year to be sure.

Brad,

Agreed that managing moisture at higher temperatures and lower relative humidity is much different.  In fact, almost all of our deep and infrequent scheduling goes out the window in order to just replace some of the day's ET.  In terms of hydropthobicity in the soil, we use different wetting agents on each playing surface to keep the moisture level as consistent as possible from top to bottom and inversely, we can also dry down much more evenly through using wetting agents than without.  Additionally, we have been using a lot more humic acid in our program over the last two years with great success in preventing areas of Localized Dry Spots where you see those waxy coatings form on the soil colloid.

As crazy as 2012 has been, I think 2010 and 2011 were worse so far and by far than what we have experienced here in Columbus, Ohio.  Still plenty of time left for the weather to get really interesting though...

[Bill_McBride]

Jeff & C,

The problem you and others have is that you're too young.

You have no experience and no recall on how fairways were maintained in the 50's and 60's when summer fairways were almost always brownish-yellowish-greenish and played fast and firm.

Patrick,

You remember playing golf on F&F conditions in the 50's? How old are you?

PCraig,

Let's put it this way, I"ve been on Medicare for over five (5) years 

Pat Craig, me too.  I started playing in 1954, I've played lots of American F&F, but not enough lately.  I hope the "down with brown" campaign helps, but self-protective overwatering is a major problem. 

[Colin Macqueen]

Gentlemen,

I am happy to be corrected as I say this from a position of ignorance.
It strikes me that the posts by Ryan and Brad are describing a good example of TEP's idea of Maintenance Meld in action. Am I correct or am I misunderstanding Maintenance Meld?

Cheers Colin

[Patrick_Mucci]

Bradley Anderson,

Not long ago I was on the 17th green at WFW when I engaged one of maintainance men whom I had noticed probing other greens.

I asked him what he was doing with his probe.  He indicated that he was testing the moisture levels.
I asked him to show me how it worked and what the range of Prefered readings were.

I seem to recall numbers between 8.6 and 20.0, with the ideal number somewhere in between,  but my recall may be foggy.

I wasn't referencing this Saturday, the 100 degree day, but the extended trend since summer began.

I understand a superintendent's defensive perspective, borne primarily from the expectations of the membership.

Watching the tournament from PB, the contrast of the green grass and white sand makes for a good TV picture.
Ditto the Greenbriar.

Fairways have wider margins than greens.  But, I've yet to see Brownish-yellowish-greenish fairways or greens so far this summer.

[jeffwarne]

Ryan,

Let me add one important point of clarification: even with a deep rooted grass like A4, that has ten times the root mass as Poa annua, you still have to maintain enough soil moisture to prevent hydrophopic soils from forming at the surface of the profile.

Once the moisture levels fall below 12% the organic matter in the soil attaches itself to the exchange sites on the soil particles that are there for the purpose of holding water. The organic matter forms a coating around the soil particle that actually repels water. Now you have to use two or three times the amount of water to the reestablish soil moisture.

So yes, there are many grasses that may draw from deeper water reserves, but when its 100 degrees, dry and windy, your irrigation programs are now based on maintaining enough surface moisture to mitigate hydrophobic conditions. You will actually use less water in the long run if you maintain the molecular chain of water through the entire profile.

After we get back to 65-85 degree days and moderate humidity, the soils can be allowed to dry down more uniformly.

One of the unusual things about 2012 is the intense heat hit us in June when we have the longest daylight hours of the year. We normally don't have this intensity of heat until we get to mid July and August when the days are slightly shorter.

We had a superintendents meeting here a couple weeks ago and by the third week of June we all had applied as much water as we had  applied in the entire year of 2011. This is an odd year to be sure.

I don't know why you guys post all this science.
Pat's lawn is brownish yellow and firm and fast(well as fast as lawn can be) so I'm sure that's all the information you need

Pat I'm a member of two clubs that only irrigate greens, and grew up playing at another which had no fairway irrigation, and played much of my golf from the late 70's on at Palmetto which installed their fairway irrigation in 1988.
You don't have to be that old to experience no irrigation.
Those courses will be seeding a lot of grass come September, but they certainly are fun to play as the gras goes dormant and eventually dead in some places.

Firm and fast is a bit easier to maintain in the UK/ireland (not this year) where temps rarely top 70 degrees.
Firm and fast at 100 degrees will quickly cross the line from dormant to dead, but hey as long as your expectation is that of simply havng a lawn cut at 2 inches , it's all good.

[Patrick_Mucci]

Jeff, 

The gross error in your reply is the assumption that temperatures are consistently at 100, when nothing could be further from the truth.

It's only in the last week that temperatures reached those levels.

Yet, the trend since summer began seems to be green, green, green.

As to F&F, overseeding in the Northeast is virtually unheard of and the old club I was referencing is in the Northeast and has never over seeded their fairways, they browned out every summer, especially in August.

As to my lawn, when the town mandates watering bans, my lawn looks great while the other green lawns quickly go downhill fast and look awful.

I like to keep the lawn at about 1", any higher and the kids complain that it slows them down 

[jeffwarne]

Jeff, 

The gross error in your reply is the assumption that temperatures are consistently at 100, when nothing could be further from the truth.

It's only in the last week that temperatures reached those levels.

Yet, the trend since summer began seems to be green, green, green.

As to F&F, overseeding in the Northeast is virtually unheard of and the old club I was referencing is in the Northeast and has never over seeded their fairways, they browned out every summer, especially in August.

As to my lawn, when the town mandates watering bans, my lawn looks great while the other green lawns quickly go downhill fast and look awful.

I like to keep the lawn at about 1", any higher and the kids complain that it slows them down 

Sounds like your lawn is firm AND fast!

I'm not talking about OVERseeding, I'm talking about reseeding fairways and roughs(or portions of) that have crossed the line from dormant to dead.
It's common and usually done in September  or October in the northeast.

Brown is good, I'd like to see more of it-so Im with you in spirit but it's not our supers that need educating.

[Patrick_Mucci]

Jeff,

Agreed, but with TV televising GREEN PGA Tour courses every week, the golfing public, memberships and club leaderships have become accustomed to and indoctrinated to Green, Green, Green.

That's a tough trend to buck when you're bombarded with Green every week.

It's going to take the iconic clubs, the clubs that golfers look to to set the example, to reverse the trend.

[Steve Burrows]

It's going to take the iconic clubs, the clubs that golfers look to to set the example, to reverse the trend.

This sounds an awful like cultural imperialism (and not in a good way). 

Also, bear in mind that many of those same iconic clubs that you speak of tend to spend a whole lot of time, money, and manpower to achieve both the aesthetic and performance standards that you promote.  It's rarely a matter of simply turning off the over-night irrigation cycles/programs.  Indeed, I would submit that clubs with fewer resources might be just as hard-pressed to maintain these standards as they would be living up to veritable arms race associated with the so-called "Augusta Syndrome."           

[Patrick_Mucci]

Steve,

It has nothing to do with cultural imperialism, t's got to do with reality.

Certain clubs attract golfers.
Golfers who crave the experience of playing a particular course. 
Pine Valley would be one of those clubs.

Visitors to Pine Valley usually leave with a myriad of impressions, impressions created by their initial urge to see PV and drink in anything and everything about it.

That process isn't nearly as intense, if it exists at all, when a golfer plays another club just down the road from their own club.

I'd go as far to say that there tends to be a "collective" when it comes to local clubs and there agronomic practices and playing conditions.

It's a unique situation when one club,  amongst many other nearby clubs, represents a significant departure, from the other clubs.

And that's where the iconic clubs can serve as trendsetters, in a favorable way.

[Sean_A]

While I agree that there most certainly exists a degree of padding in terms of water use to ensure, as much as is possible, that major calamities don't occur, but f&f is without question a relative matter.  That isn't to say a poa/bent, high heat/humidity index course can't achieve excellent f&f conditions, only that in doing so there tends to be a higher risk of issues, perhaps more expensive in extreme conditions, and f&f is achievable for shorter periods of time compared with fescue/bent courses in a mild climate.  This is why I can't see a problem in designing courses to suit the climate and why its awful risky to design without the climate in the forefront of thinking. 

I do wish weather played a more important role for how courses play in the US, which is essentially what Pat is saying.  Instead, from my experience, there tends to be a goal of presenting the course in the same condition day after day regardless of the weather.  I have asked this before, but what percentage of "safety" water (call it the buffer) do supers employ in making sure they have a job the next Monday? 

I know one thing for certain, I wouldn't want to be a super unless I was in line with club big wig thinking on how a course should play.  It would be incredibly frustrating to have to put out a certain product day after day which you believe to be inferior, but club orders.  So, hats off to supers.   

Ciao

[Mark McKeever]

Pat, you're missing out!  Schuylkill is dry, firm, and fast!

Mark

[Josh_Mahar]

Bradley, 
Don't know you but can tell from your posts on this topic that you are a good superintendent.  Well written.

Pat,
As far as your lawn being firm and fast kudos to you.  Maybe you should become a superintendent-some of the top jobs are fetching around 200k a year which may be paltry to what you are accustomed but by my standards is pretty good. 
Lawns due to their higher height of cut have considerably more root mass than a fairway or green (up to 10-15 times more) which allows them to recover more quickly and thoroughly when a rain event or irrigation occurs.  If you are teetering on the edge of soil moisture deficit with a fariway or green and it hits 100 your turf will be significantly damaged and not recover like a lawn.  Will it all be dead?   No, but there will be thinning leaving behind pockmarked turf that most members will not be happy with.  Do that 2 or 3 times through the season and your turf stand will be pretty sorry.  So do we hedge to be safe when soil temps get into the 80s-hell yes.  Are some of us better than others with irrigation management? -probably but each situation dictates different irrigation strategies.

Finally, we live in the United States, not the United Kingdom.  Our climate is completely different so some of you hard-core "only brown is good" guys need to realize that courses in the US will never be maintained or play like the UK!  If it never got above 80 here in good ole Nebraska my turf management would be completely different.  "Its the weather, man."

[JMEvensky]

Gentlemen,

I am happy to be corrected as I say this from a position of ignorance.
It strikes me that the posts by Ryan and Brad are describing a good example of TEP's idea of Maintenance Meld in action. Am I correct or am I misunderstanding Maintenance Meld?

Cheers Colin

I, too, have always thought of TEP's maintenance meld this way.

What Ryan and Brad have certainly pointed out is that any "browning" is only going to happen if a golf club's powers that be are on board and have their Super's back when it comes to dealing with inevitable membership backlash.The Super can only deliver conditions that his boss(es) tell him.

Thanks for the explanations--and thanks especially for explaining in layman's terms.

[PGertner]

Finally, we live in the United States, not the United Kingdom.  Our climate is completely different so some of you hard-core "only brown is good" guys need to realize that courses in the US will never be maintained or play like the UK!  If it never got above 80 here in good ole Nebraska my turf management would be completely different.  "Its the weather, man."


Josh said it, guys. We aren't living in the UK growing fescues....we are here in the states. Many of us are growing mixtures of turfs with significant populations of Poa annua. Yes, it can go to that light brown color referred to in earlier posts.....then it is dead. It isn't just laying down waiting for fall rains and cooler temps. It is dead and won't recover until a few of the billions of Poa seeds present in soil germinate during fall.

The members at my private club here in Rhode Island don't like dead grass. To my knowledge, members of just about all US private clubs don't tolerate dead turf.

I also teach all my Assistants that water is what makes or breaks any Supt....anywhere. My golf course is not wet this morning, good fairway hits will run for 25-50 yards here all year long. I'm not saying we are all perfect, but different golf courses present different problems for Supers in 2012.

It would be most US Super's dream to be able to annually grow turf in the UK climate....because the climate there is like a stroll through the park compared to growing turf in most of the US.  

OK, now where is JK to bash us Supers?  

Patrick Gertner
Potowomut Golf Club
East Greenwich, RI

[Anthony_Nysse]

Bradley, 
Don't know you but can tell from your posts on this topic that you are a good superintendent.  Well written.

Pat,
As far as your lawn being firm and fast kudos to you.  Maybe you should become a superintendent-some of the top jobs are fetching around 200k a year which may be paltry to what you are accustomed but by my standards is pretty good. 
Lawns due to their higher height of cut have considerably more root mass than a fairway or green (up to 10-15 times more) which allows them to recover more quickly and thoroughly when a rain event or irrigation occurs.  If you are teetering on the edge of soil moisture deficit with a fariway or green and it hits 100 your turf will be significantly damaged and not recover like a lawn.  Will it all be dead?   No, but there will be thinning leaving behind pockmarked turf that most members will not be happy with.  Do that 2 or 3 times through the season and your turf stand will be pretty sorry.  So do we hedge to be safe when soil temps get into the 80s-hell yes.  Are some of us better than others with irrigation management? -probably but each situation dictates different irrigation strategies.

Finally, we live in the United States, not the United Kingdom.  Our climate is completely different so some of you hard-core "only brown is good" guys need to realize that courses in the US will never be maintained or play like the UK!  If it never got above 80 here in good ole Nebraska my turf management would be completely different.  "Its the weather, man."

Bradley and Josh have spot on replies and are both more than knowledgeable Superintendents and quality grass growers.
  I suppose my situation is a little different because of bermudagrass, but I most certain have had my time on cool season turf. At the end of the day, it’s okay to push turf for a few days when the humidity is right and the temps are going to rebound quickly. It’s another thing when you have numerous days above 90, 95 or 100 and there is no end in sight. When temps get to that point, it’s just a survival mode. Playability to the LEAST concern and should be. There are clubs in the DC area that are not even allowing carts off the path because of the chance for damage. They are being proactive, in my mind. At the end of the day, if you can get through a summer with those types of temperatures and very little turf lose, you’ve had a good summer. If you’re worried about firm, fast and brown when it’s 95+ degrees for 7-10 or more days, you’re going to have much bigger problems.
  Keep in mind, most cool season turf grass does not like to soil temps above 70 and consistent air temps above 90+. The turf is just really there-not thriving, just holding on for a cool night to catch its breath. This is why Supts going to smooth rollers, higher heights of cut, less mowing AND rolling (one of the other) and more venting. Cool season turf is just that-cool season.
  There are times where we need to get past the fast, firm and brown nature and be thankful for turf. If there is turf, it will recover and will play firm and fast in its element.

[Patrick_Mucci]

Bradley, 
Don't know you but can tell from your posts on this topic that you are a good superintendent.  Well written.

Pat,
As far as your lawn being firm and fast kudos to you. 

My lawn hasn't been irrigated in decades.
The point, which you and others missed, is that it remains healthy under harsh conditions, and far healthier than my neighbor's lawns, which are irrigated, when the town imposes drought restrictions on watering.

One lawn is deprived of water, other than through Mother Nature, the other lawns get water on a daily basis, irrespective of Mother Nature.

And, under stress, which lawn is healthier, which lawn can sustain itself longer without artificial irrigation.

Is there not a similar analogy with golf courses ?

Maybe you should become a superintendent-some of the top jobs are fetching around 200k a year which may be paltry to what you are accustomed but by my standards is pretty good. 

Too late for a change in careers for me.
It's been my limited experience that most clubs don't hire septuagenarians.

Lawns due to their higher height of cut have considerably more root mass than a fairway or green (up to 10-15 times more) which allows them to recover more quickly and thoroughly when a rain event or irrigation occurs. 

I know and understand the relationship between the height of the grass and maintainance demands.

If you are teetering on the edge of soil moisture deficit with a fariway or green and it hits 100 your turf will be significantly damaged and not recover like a lawn.  Will it all be dead?   No, but there will be thinning leaving behind pockmarked turf that most members will not be happy with. 

Why must you deal in extremes ?
Fairways have been consistently lush at 80 and 90 degree temps.
Fairways, for decades were off color, until automated systems were introduced.
That I prefer brownish-yellowish-greenish playing surfaces is my own particular liking.

100 degree days are an anomaly, and responding to those spikes isn't what the thread is about.
It's about the sytstemic lack of color (read playing conditions as well) other than dark/lush green.
It's about the transition from robust, firm and fast fairways to fairways dependent upon excessive volumes of water.

It's about ROLL or the lack of.
I never met a golfer who was opposed to getting roll on his ball, yet, almost every golfer opposes the conditions that allow for roll on his ball.

Do that 2 or 3 times through the season and your turf stand will be pretty sorry.  So do we hedge to be safe when soil temps get into the 80s-hell yes.  Are some of us better than others with irrigation management? -probably but each situation dictates different irrigation strategies.

I'm aware of that, but, again, this thread isn't about the spikes, the anomalies, the brief or even extended flirtation with 100 degree days, it's about the total lack of anything but green fairways for an extended period of time.  It's about the lack of roll on the ball.

I know that Fast and Firm isn't easy to achieve systemically, despite the positive effect on playability.
Everyone wants roll, they just don't want their fairways to be anything other than green, and therein lies the conflict.

You're merely the instrument of the will of the membership.
You have to do their bidding or jeopardize your job.
The problem doesn't reside in the maintainance barn, but rather in the committee and board rooms.

Finally, we live in the United States, not the United Kingdom.  Our climate is completely different so some of you hard-core "only brown is good" guys need to realize that courses in the US will never be maintained or play like the UK! 

Then why was it so common before automated irrigation systems were introduced.?

I suspect that you're not a septuagenarian and thus don't recall fairway tints that were primarily brownish-yellowish-greenish in the 50's and 60's.

I also realize that fairway heights are lower today, placing more stress on maintainance.

I will close with this remark.

How does Newport's golf course survive with NO automated irrigation system ?
They're not in the UK, they're here in the US.

Ditto Maidstone ?

If they can maintain those courses at those conditions (brown, brownish-yellowish-greenish) why can't other courses with automated irrigation maintain them other than at a deep, lush green, with no roll ?

If it never got above 80 here in good ole Nebraska my turf management would be completely different.  "Its the weather, man."

[Josh_Mahar]

Pat,
I did not miss your point about your lawn being better at withstanding drought.  I think most of us are aware that pre-stress conditioning is good for turf and most courses would benefit from being drier at certain times of the year.  However, never have a conversation with a superintendent that starts "my lawn" because that immediately closes their ears.  You may have a valid point but we don't want to hear how your lawn is anywhere near the same as our golf green so try to limit the references to your lawn.

Perhaps the 100 degree mention was extreme but there is little to no margin for error when you start getting air temps above 95 and soil temps in the 80s.  I have no idea what your weather has been like at the course you are referencing but someone mentioned 100 degrees and I ran with that-probably not the best example.  But if you are playing courses with no roll then maybe you should head elsewhere.

Another mistake I made in my argument was the generalization that we live in the US, but I did not consider the 10% of the country that does have climate somewhat similar to the UK.  But you were kind enough to point them out to me.  Citing Maidstone and Newport as  examples of F&F really does not compare to the rest of the country. LI has a pretty benign microclimate.  There are other places like the Oregon coast that would do well under a British style turf management system.  Forgive me for throwing them in the same boat as the rest of us here in the states.  And I believe Maidstone does now have fairway irrigation but that really isn't the point.

And you are correct that I was not around in the 60s - I am so young I don't even know what a septuagenarian is!
Gotta go now to irrigate my golf course!