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