Page 14 - Green Master summer 2022

Painted cup at Burlington Golf and Country Club.
reading. The USGA would also note, the Stimpmeters’ true use is to rate consistency from one green to the next, saying the intent was not about measuring speed or comparing one golf course to another.
As a player, what is the benefit of knowing if greens are rolling “10” or “12”? If they are slow ... hit it harder, if they are fast, hit it less hard. Good players will also tell you, it is not about speed, but about feel. As long as all of the greens rise and fall equally with their Stimp number that is all that matters.
Watching the 2022 PGA Tour early this year in Kapalua, Hawaii. The course recently finished a greens restoration. Comments from the broadcasters and players were that the new greens were great. They also commented that the new greens being new, were kept healthy and growing. A common set greens speed for the Tour is 10.5ft which these greens maintained in the morning. However, during the afternoon as they grew, the speeds declined to below 10. One broadcaster commented that players need to adapt to the afternoon speeds. Even as they were playing the greens got slower as they made the turn into the back nine. Not the perfect scenario for the Superintendent, but understandable. As for the players, they did what they do every week ... adapt.
Our favourite questions to answer on the golf course are about consistency. The honest answer has always been that there is no such thing as consistency on a golf course. For example, greens speeds: forever we will talk about speed of greens and what they are running. When asked to post greens speeds, we say, “Its not a good idea for one reason – the speeds change throughout the day!” When you tee up first thing in the morning, speeds will be X, when you play later in the afternoon after many rounds, speeds will be Y.
AND HERE LIES THE SECRET OF GOLF
Professional tours allow their players a morning round Thursday and an afternoon round Friday. This is so the players get a feel for how the course will change from morning to afternoon.
The PGA Tour has taught us that players need two things to succeed: a good swing and the ability to adapt. The adapt part is pointed at the golf course. The golf course changes every day, every hour and the ability to adapt to these changes, makes great players.
This is why our sport divides itself from others as the playing field is constantly changing. You may play the same golf course every day but in fact, you do not. The pin placements on greens change daily, tee blocks and
yardages change daily and the rest is up to Mother Nature making changes. In a club championship, you can go in dry and fast Friday, but 20mm of rain on Saturday will change the entire playing field for Sunday. The good players adapt to the change and win.
Good players spend countless hours at the practice range hitting balls and putting. The putting sessions are most important to the Superintendent because the putting green has to mirror what is on the course. If the putting green rolls 11ft, you better make damn sure they all are rolling 11ft! Smart players always hit the putting green first, curious to know how the greens are rolling today? They do not need a sign to tell them, they use their putter to find out.
To simplify our green speeds at BGCC, we communicate this three- type approach:
1. The desired speed: 10.5 – 11ft. A
BGCC requirement in our Guidelines
for summer play.
2. The altered speed: due to outside
conditions like weather and maintenance Monday etc. These changes get posted at the first tee and will be noticeable when putting on the practice green before your round.
3. The “WOW factor” for special events only, like the Member Guest or an Invitational. This is a one-shot deal to show off your course and stretch the limits of health and speed. Usually resulting in double cut mornings with a roll, then do it again at night. The goal is to get the greens as fast as possible (show no mercy). This is normally followed by the good players saying, “Why can’t we do this everyday?” and the Superintendent’s response... “We wouldn’t have any grass left in September.”
Superintendents and golfers do their very best to manage the ever- changing playing field of golf. As Jack Nicklaus says, “Success depends almost entirely on how effectively you learn to manage the games two ultimate adversaries: the course and yourself.” GM
14 • CGSA • GreenMaster