Technical
Thatch fungus
If you think maintaining the ‘character’ of a green is putting up with persistent annual waterlogging or regular outbreaks of dry patch,
anthracnose or fusarium, then that’s fine, but I would not consider this a particularly enlightened or forward-thinking view
” Artificial green and bunker surround 128 I PC APRIL/MAY 2015
significantly the development of longer- lasting preventative fungicides. These particular biological arms races seem set to continue for many years to come. More fundamental still, developments
related to soil structure, texture, drainage and water relations appear, like many of the greens I have examined recently, to have stagnated. It was my observation some years ago that
golf, as an industry, has been pre-occupied with what I now see as a wasteful debate over the relative abundance of annual meadow grass among green swards. Various theories, many of them nonsense, have been bandied about on this, tying unfortunate greenkeepers in knots as they wrestle with the various demands and expectations these ideas have laid down. Meanwhile, issues related to poor
drainage, inappropriate soil and subsoil structure and unsuitable soil texture have gone un-amended, despite the fact that these factors have far greater influence on the overall quality of the playing surfaces. And the golfers have carried on golfing oblivious to the anxieties taking place in the shed. To satisfy their concerns, technological developments in golf have focused instead
Root development in new USGA green
on the measurement of playing quality as experienced by the golfers, in particular green speed and trueness. In this respect, I have made my own
contribution with the patented invention of the ‘Lodgemeter’ or Golf Green Smoothness Meter1
. But, being able to measure
something does not provide the means of bringing about its improvement, and it is here that I think golf, and perhaps golf course agronomists also, have been left behind somewhat by other sports. Ironically, an answer to most of golf’s
greenkeeping issues has been available for over a quarter of a century. This is, of course, the USGA method of golf green construction. Properly installed and maintained, greens constructed in this manner are able to deliver all of the playing quality advantages demanded by golfers, while the many difficulties that beset greenkeepers working on ‘clay-bowl’, ‘natural soil’ or ‘push-up’ greens are immediately eliminated. Certainly, over the years, I have seen many USGA greens that have been less than satisfactory, and this may be the actual experience of some readers. As a consequence, many may have become disillusioned with this particular technology.
Artificial is now the accepted and preferred surface for hockey
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