Covering the Greens



Uncovering #11 Green

 Covering the greens is a much needed practice when managing Ultradwarf Bermuda greens. Protection from the harsh winter weather and temperatures is essential to the long term health of the greens. We take every precaution to make certain that the greens are protected should bad weather arise. The process of covering the greens is not long. It takes about 2-3 hours to cover the greens and about 1-2 hours to uncover. The temperature at which we look at covering is 25 degrees. If the nighttime temperature is going to be below 25 degrees and the following days highs are in the 30's, then we will be covering the greens. We try and minimize the exposure to temperature at or below freezing and the tarps main function is to warm the soil causing the ground under the greens to remain unfrozen. This allows the greens to handle the colder temperatures and will sustain turf health throughout the winter. The spring green-up is earlier for the greens because of the use of covers. We start seeing them green up in mid to late February while the rest of the course is nearly a month behind. The covers are a valuable tool and although they cause some disruption to the golfers through course closures or being movable objects around the greens, they are our insurance policy.


Storing Cover to the side of green out of play.



Wooden pegs used for holding tarps in place

BRUSHING the GREENS.

Putting Green



There are several maintnenace practices that superintendents use to make the turf better. From a playability standpoint, we want the greens to roll like a pool table top, smooth ,with no bumpiness, and with a consistent speed. Brushing is not a new idea but it has changed over the years. New technology allows us to utilize brushing the greens in a whole new way.

Brushing the greens is the practice of using a brush to stand the leaf blade up before cutting the leaf. This results in a much cleaner cut and smoother surface. By brushing more frequently, we can have the greens much more smooth and the ball will roll much more like a pool table, which is the goal. The brushes are on the mower so all of this happens at the same time. The brushes sit out in front of the reel and it makes for a very nice and clean cut.
The by product of the brushing is some nice stripping which you can see in the photos. One of the main reasons for brushing our greens is to control the grain of the 'Champion' bermuda grass. The grain is always an issue with bermuda but with the ultradwarf varieties it isn't as big a problem because of there dense canopy. The quality of cut is more difficult to acheive and thus using the brushes will provide us with the best cut we can achieve. We will use the brushes throughout the year. I believe we will see an even better putting surface at BCC in 2011 and for the years' to come.



Putting Green