Clubhouse putting green

Some of the clubhouse putting green perimeters are thinning out and showing signs of stress. For a new putting surface, this is a pretty common issue, especially ones with very little area outside of the green like our clubhouse putting green.

One of the compounding issues is the immaturity of the grass. Remember, we planted the grass only 6 months ago. This is exactly why major golf tournaments are rarely played on freshly renovated courses, they need time to mature. Another part of the problem with the thinning perimeter is that it gets trampled with more wear than any other part of the green. When the putting surface is cut the mower cuts to the edge (that's one trampling), turns around and goes the other direction, and ultimately the perimeter gets it's own cutting (that's the second trampling). Additionally, we roll the greens almost every day (that's the third trampling).

To combat the wear issues on the green's perimeter I do several Superintendent tricks to help abate some of the abuse. One common practice is to skip the cleanup cut all together. Unless the grass is growing vigorously the layman will never know the perimeter has been skipped. Another trick is to create a false collar around the thin areas. The false collar means the area will not be mowed at all at green height, thus being allowed to grow higher. Remember, the longer the leaf, the more sunlight the plant can capture, the healthier the plant is, and ultimately the more wear the plant can withstand.

On the big putting green I am having the false collar trick done. The thinning is just a temporary issue and will go away once the warm Spring days arrive. If it gets too bad I will have the areas plugged out.