Pitchcare Classifieds Golf What is Augusta Syndrome Disease?
the UK’s finest greenkeepers and whereas it was never on anybody’s FineGolf map, it is now recognised nationally for its delightful fast running heathland characteristics with, for example, The R&A awarding it Open Qualifying status.
Unfortunately, the leaders of the club allowed members, led by low handicappers suffering from ASD, to put pressure on their previous hero, who was nicknamed ‘Golden Balls’ and the outcome is that a candidate for FineGolf’s pantheon of the finest greenkeepers has moved on and the club has welcomed a new greenkeeper who is now shaving the greens down below 4mm to increase their speed from above nine foot to above ten foot, whilst setting the course up in a style he learned from his days at the manicured ‘target golf’ Belfry.
By contrast, Pennard Golf Club in Swansea ‐ three years in advance of Enville on the ASD cycle, has just seen the departure of the greenkeeper brought in three years ago on the back of an outbreak of ASD amongst its members.
In the spring, we all enjoy watching the TV golf extravaganza that is the US Masters, particularly the back-nine holes and the same pin placements that we all know so well. When Michelson hit his six iron off the pine needles with no back-spin and stopped the ball by its pitch-mark near the pin just over Rae’s Creek, the American commentators went “Ooh! Ahh!”
Yes, to many it is the epitome of top-class ‘Target-Golf ‘ but… the problem is that some UK golfers then ask “why can’t their home course have greens as fast as Augusta’s?”
Augusta is an expensively and artificially managed course, set‐up just for that one week, closed for five months of the year, with greens of shaved, annual meadow grass (Poa annua) and with a moisture control system underneath that hums in the background whilst you are putting. In GB&I, only clubs like, for example, wealthy, sparsely‐ used Queenwood can afford rolling greens that perform like Augusta, which they dig up and re‐ turf every few years.
This quest for ‘shaved’ high speed is an infectious disease that has become known as ‘Augusta Syndrome’ and it predominantly affects low handicappers.
FineGolf suggests that most recreational golfers want greens and aprons that are firm, true and sustainable (low inputs, lower costs) which, although they may not realise it, are best delivered by fine perennial grasses, whereas some low handicappers suffering from Augusta Syndrome Disease (ASD), measure performance of green complexes by the putting speed alone.
With a dearth of good training available these days in traditional ‘Jim Arthur’ greenkeeping methods, there are fewer greenkeepers who know how to manage fine perennial grasses cut at 5mm that will provide a normal average green speed reading of around nine foot and faster when in a dry spell. This medium speed of putt helps for a fast pace of play. There are two excellent ‘green speed’ articles on the FineGolf and Pitchcare websites by the R&A’s Steve Isaac and Norbert Lishcka, the ‘turf fox’.
It is not surprising that many greenkeepers under the cosh of potentially losing their job through pressure from members infected by ASD just give in and cut their greens below 4mm ‐ under which conditions fine fescues are unlikely to survive ‐ and quickly spiral down into managing shaved, stressed weed grass that requires the use of unsustainable chemicals and lots of water to keep it alive.
FineGolf has recently come across two interesting examples of the effect of ASD at courses within our 200 finest running‐golf courses in GB&I.
Enville Golf Club in the West Midlands (where most courses are fine parklands built on mud!) has, over the last fifteen years, been led by one of
FineGolf never blames greenkeepers (unless they go against what is club course policy). Some, in their first year through the use of close‐shaving, over‐use of water, fertiliser and chemical use, satisfy those amongst the club membership who love the immediate lush manicuring and green colouring. The Turf Fox’s article on ‘The Green Illusion’ is worth reading.
It takes time to build up the healthy soil biology to support fine grasses, but just the wink of an eye to go chemically unsustainable.
Has Pennard learned its lesson and decided to return to the characteristics that were helping it become a nationally recognised course for its quirky James Braid design enhanced by firm, running surfaces, with a bit of natural roughness as part of the overall beautiful feel?
The club has invited back, in our view, Europe’s leading consultant on fine grasses, Gordon Irvine MG, who is called by some ‘Jim Arthur’s heir’, to provide the right technical advice to the greenkeeping team, backed up with visionary communication to build up understanding and knowledge amongst the membership to keep them onside. We all hope congratulations are in order!
The views expressed in this article are those of Lorne Smith, editor of FineGolf.
FineGolf is a passionate campaign based on the website
www.finegolf.co.uk and edited by Lorne Smith, supported by an advisory panel of experts, to promote the classic values of traditional fine running‐ golf. There are a growing number of now over 8,500 subscribers to the free bi‐monthly online newsletter, including some 1,000 greenkeepers.
Enville Golf Club, Stourbridge, West Midlands 152 I PC APRIL/MAY 2018
Pennard Golf Club, Swansea
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