Technical - Golf
In this article, golf course consultant Billy McMillan suggests that, not since the seventies, has he seen such high levels of organic matter in golf greens. With modern equipment and advances in turf science, he questions why this should still be happening and what ‘back to basics’ method you could employ to help alleviate the problem
Organic matter levels
Dig for success...
A
s I travel around golf courses up and down the country, it has become apparent that some clubs are experiencing poor putting green situations,
waterlogged surfaces and unplayable conditions. Many are so poor that it has resulted in the use of temporary greens at certain times of the year and, in the more severe situations, premature course closure. I would have to cast my mind back to the
seventies to compare some of the conditions I see today. Back then, we didn’t have the tools available to us that we have at our disposal now, so what are the determining factors that have resulted in this downturn in the condition of golf greens? Could it be a lack of greenkeeping inputs?
Greenkeepers not carrying out those necessary operations to maintain firm, smooth, free draining putting surfaces? It has to be said that the evidence would suggest that is the case. Without sufficient funding into materials,
staff and equipment, the eventuality of failure can only be just around the corner. So, in real terms and keeping everything really simple, we have to play catch up to once again regain those playing characteristics we all strive for; namely firm, fast and resilient greens that play well at all times of the year. With the tough economic times we have
experienced during the last five years or so, there has been a dramatic reduction in
116 I PC OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2015
available funding. This, alongside the failure to carry out essential maintenance programmes, often so as not to disrupt or upset the fragile membership, is another contributing factor. Even where the maintenance work has
been carried out, the choice of materials has often been poor, again to save money. Going for the cheaper option is a false economy. Fact.
Sand isn’t just sand, and I have seen some poor choices with high levels of silt and clay particles. We make these poor choices at our peril because, once in the ground, they can become a real and long-lasting problem. Now, to suggest that this is a wholesale
problem would be damning, however, it is fast reaching epidemic proportions in my experience and should not be dismissed. By far the biggest problem I see is
excessive organic matter (OM) build up at the surfaces of greens; this is closely followed by high levels of compaction throughout the profile of the greens. It can sometimes be the situation that there is a free draining condition below, but with excessive moisture being retained at the surface in an undiluted layer of OM. Equally, it is not uncommon to find low
levels of OM and a very compacted profile below that results in excessive moisture retention at the surface. Black layer and anaerobic soil conditions are generally present in both situations.
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