Driving around in circles

Circle cutting is a very effective way of attacking the grain of the grass in between fairway verti-cuttings. As the mower makes a turn it forces the cutting units to sink into the turf canopy a little bit. This extra down pressure is used to attack areas that have become puffy and thatchy. As the height of cut in the fairways is lowered throughout the summer, frequent circle cutting will be done to produce a well manicured surface. If you look at the picture you can see very small areas where the mowers forced the cutting units down into the turf and slightly scalped a puffy thatch area during today's fairway circle cut.