Can Well-Maintained Greens Lower Your Scores?
I don't often mention green maintenance in my golf lessons. Nor do I often discuss it in my golf tips. That's because golfers want to talk about hitting the ball instead. But the care and feeding of a club's greens—how they are mowed, watered, fertilized— can have a major impact on a player's golf handicap, especially if he or she plays the same course a lot.
Speed is the key factor when considering green maintenance. Usually, players want a superintendent to increase green speed. It's probably the most frequent request about greens. Occasionally, players want a superintendent to decrease green speed, but these requests are few and far between. Misjudging the speed of a putt can add strokes to a score, as I've mentioned in my golf tips.
The term "green speed" is technically inaccurate. The device measuring "speed" —the USGA Stimpmeter —gauges the distance a ball rolls when released at a controlled speed on a putting surface, not the ball's velocity. To talk about green speed then is a bit of a misnomer. Nevertheless, we continue to use the term when talking about greens. (I even use it when giving golf lessons.) A green with a relatively long ball roll is considered "fast." A green with a relatively short ball roll is said to be "slow."
Ball roll relates to relationship between the initial energy when a putter strikes the ball and the resistance between the ball and the turf's surface, or friction. As the ball rolls across the green, its surface slows it down thanks to friction. A green with high resistance slows a ball down more than a green with low resistance. Moderating friction changes a green's speed.
Environmental factors, such as humidity, can moderate friction and change a green's speed. For example, high humidity increases green speed, a consideration when playing on a hot day. Soil type also influences green speed. Greens made predominately of clay are faster in spring than their sandier counterparts. While superintendents have little or no control over these factors, they have minimal impact on your game.
Management practices, on the other hand, like mowing or irrigation, can make a profound impact on a green, both short-term and long-term. Below is a summary of how some popular management practices affect green speed.
Mowing:
An effective way of increasing ball roll in the short-term, mowing has a significant impact on green speed. Decreasing mowing height by only 1/16 inch can increase ball roll from 6 to 10 inches. A similar response occurs when you "double cut" a green (mowing it a second time, perpendicular to the first cut) which can increase ball roll 6 to 12 inches. Mower type also influences green speed. Greens cut with a walk-behind mower are generally 6 to 8 inches fast than greens cut with triplex mowers.
Irrigation
Dry greens are faster than moist or wet greens. Withholding irrigation or decreasing it before an event requiring faster greens will increase ball roll 4 to 8 inches, depending on soil type.
Rolling
Rolling golf greens isn't new, but it's growing in popularity thanks to new research and better equipment. Depending on the type of roller you use, you can increase green speed from 4 to 10 inches, with minimal compaction problems on sand-based greens
Topdressing
Light frequent topdressing with or without vertical mowing or core aerating is common. Topdressing decreases speed for up to 1 week after application, followed by an increase of from 4 to 8 inches (above the speed before topdressing.) Vertical mowing has a similar effect. Core aeration reduces speed initially, and if you don't topdress to fill in the holes, decrease it long term.
Fertility
Decreasing nitrogen fertility will gradually increase ball-roll distance. A decrease in nitrogen fertility of only 10 percent can increase ball roll 8 to 12 percent. The effects may take up to a year to see, however, depending on previous fertility practices. Plant growth regulators can increase ball roll from 4 to 8 inches, depending on product, rate, and frequency of application.
Keep in mind that these factors do not operate independently. Modifying one may require compensation by modifying another.
Next time you play your favorite course be aware of these factors and how they affect a green. Take them into account when putting. Doing so might just help you improve your round and your golf handicap.
About the Author
Jack Moorehouse is the author of the best-selling book "How To Break 80 And Shoot Like The Pros." He is NOT a golf pro, rather a working man that has helped thousands of golfers from all seven continents lower their handicap immediately.
Live To See 85: Get Moving!
If you want to increase your chances of actually reaching the ripe old age of 85 – one unsurprising solution: exercise.
The latest research has concluded that in order to live longer, one needed to be physically active in middle age. Jarett Berry, a cardiologist at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, states that "if you are fit in mid-life, you double your chance of surviving to 85." He also explains that if you are not physically fit in your 50s, your projected lifespan "is eight years shorter than if you are fit."
The media constantly bombards us with the benefits of exercise so this finding shouldn't come as a surprise. The "godfather of fitness", our beloved Jack Lalanne has kept fit his entire life so, in 1984, to celebrate his 70th birthday he swam 1.5 miles from the Queensway Bay Bridge to the Queen Mary in the Long Beach Harbor. He completed this while towing 70 people on 70 boats and he was also handcuffed and shackled. Jack Lalanne who turned 95 last October, still exercises regularly with 1.5 hours of weight training and 30 minutes of swimming daily.
Exercise reduces blood pressure, lowers blood sugar, reduces bad cholesterol and boosts good cholesterol, all critical elements responsible in reducing cardiovascular disease (which is the #1 cause of death in the United States). Exercise has also been proven in reducing certain cancers which is the #2 leading cause of death in the US. Therefore, researchers say that taking control of these risk factors through exercise is an effective way to improve health and extend longevity.
Donald M. Lloyd-Jones, a cardiologist at Northwestern University in Chicago and senior investigator on the longevity study states that, "If you make it to middle age with optimal risk numbers and healthy behavior, you've essentially abolished your risk of cardiovascular disease…it becomes a fountain of youth for your heart." He also goes on to say that exercise is a very potent weapon against any disease.
Vigorous exercise is not necessary to reap benefits and live to old age. Studies confirm that sedentary individuals who start and maintain a moderate exercise routine benefit more than already active individuals. So, just getting off the couch is more than half the battle.
Moderate exercise is sufficient. According to the American Heart Association and the American College of Sports Medicine, moderate exercise including walking at a brisk pace, mowing the lawn with a power mower, ballroom dancing and doubles tennis have substantial health benefits. As I've stated before in my articles, walking briskly around the block is something we can all do and the results are enormous.
About the Author
Tony Clerc, MA, ACE-CPT, is an established and respected certified fitness expert with more than 14 years in the fitness industry and is the CEO of Platinum Fitness of the Desert Inc. www.desertplatinumfitness.com. He writes fitness articles for publications and gives presentations on health and fitness related topics throughout the Coachella Valley. Tony provides private personal training in clients' homes, offices or at private studios throughout the Palm Springs area. Tony can be contacted at tony@desertplatinumfitness.com 760-777-2952
