Putting Green Surrounds

This week we are beginning to mow the practice putting green surrounds with a walk mower instead of a Triplex. The Triplex mower has been used in the past for this particular area, mostly because of time savings. The switch to walk mowing was made because a walk mower produces a better cut and the problem of excessive wear and compaction caused by a Triplex are eliminated. We are working to burn in these walk mowing stripes for the season to provide a more appealing playing surface while using the practice facilities.

Burning in Par 3 Approaches

Our Par 3 approaches are finally burned in on two different angles. This look offers a more visually appealing greens complex from the tee. It took about one week worth of mowing in the same directions to give these approaches the checkerboard look. 

Bunker Maintenance

This past week we reintroduced flymowers to the bunker surrounds. In the past, the immediate bunker surrounds were trimmed with weed eaters. Flymowers are much more user friendly, mostly because the operator has less of a chance to scalp and damage the turfgrass as the height of cut is predetermined as opposed to being left in the hands of the user. Our bunkers will be flymowed weekly and edged on a biweekly basis with a stick edger. Following the mowing and edging, any runners are pulled out, the bunkers are blown clean and raked with a machine leaving no disruption to play.

Vertigrooming Greens

One week following the final aerification of the year, we "vertigroomed" greens today. "Vertigroom" is a term used which basically means light verticutting. The vertical blades slice into the canopy of the turfgrass to eliminate thatch and excessive top growth. This tightens up the leaf blade and promotes upright growth. This practice will be done on a regular basis and will aid in thatch and grain control by removing excessive leaf material and providing a smoother playing surface with minimal disruption for optimum playing conditions.