In over 50 years of playing all the finest courses in GB&I, I have come to realise that, though design and environment are the most obvious features that makes a ‘Fine, Running-Golf ‘ course so enjoyable, it is the turf that is actually most fundamental and brings the design to life.

The ‘Running Game’ off firm, tight turf is more fun & skilled.

Fine turf is dominated by two perennial, fine-leaved, slow-growing, deep-rooted, drought and disease resistant grasses, namely Fine Fescues (Festuca rubra) and Browntop Bent (Agrostis tenuis).

All golf courses are improved with these grasses which naturally exist in cool-season, temperate latitudes (Indeed, they do not like hot climates). The principles of good greenkeeping are based on the needs of these grasses and the conditions where they flourish which are at the same time unsuitable and unappreciated by coarser-leaved, faster-growing, shallower-rooted, thirsty, easily diseased, low-level seeding, more agricultural, annual meadow grasses (Poa annua).  Poa annua is a weed and is brilliant at invading any area of vacant soil.

The common denominator where fine grasses flourish?

It is not altitude, as they flourish at sea level and on moorland tops.  They enjoy alkaline (often derived from sea-shell content) dry arid links, chalky downland, limestone heath and acid moorland.

The answer is as follows, to quote Jim Arthur (the world’s greatest ever golf agronomist who wrote the bible of greenkeeping  “Practical Greenkeeping” published by The R&A and available ONLINE):

“What was surmised a century and more ago has been proven by research and analysis countless times since.  The secret of good golf greenkeeping is to copy basic infertile conditions – especially to avoid phosphatic fertilisers – and to ensure ideal conditions for deep-rooting by intensive deep aeration.  In other words, for good greens use nitrogen only and aerate deeply.  These same principles apply equally to every part of the golf course.”

Another way of putting it, is the old greenkeeping adage “ask a farmer what to do and go and do exactly the opposite” – established many moons ago!

The mono-cultured green of one colour (encouraged by fertilising) is not what good greenkeepers are looking for. A green of indigenous fine grasses gives a dappled mosaic of colours, including yellow patches in the summer where the annual meadow grasses (Poa annua) is being stressed out by drought and a lack of fertiliser.

Aeration is the most important thing for healthy grass.

However, tining can  make greens bumpy for some days so golfers need to accept some disruption to their playability and not become frustrated. It used to be often suggested that it should be done later in the year when there are less golfers around but winter golf is increasing but more importantly ….

The effect of tining depends on the type of soil and how it drains but don’t expect that tining can be done effectively after October when the ground gets waterlogged, as at that time the action of driving in the tine can make a skin on the sides of the hole and stops drainage thereby making the tining useless for its purpose.

READ HERE all about the eight types of Greenkeeper equipment.

Managed disruption in the growing and seeding season

As meadow grasses (Poa annua) are stressed by drought and reduced fertilising, over-seeding with fine grasses to take their place and this needs to be done during the growing season. It is a waste of expensive seed to sow in October. Golfers have to accept some managed disruption to their playing surfaces during the growing season (often done in August when golfers are on holiday), to obtain longer-term truer, firmer, quicker surfaces all the year round. Some of the finest clubs are now over-seeding on a few greens by rotation, on one day (often mondays) each week through the growing season. (Royal Porthcawl was transformed by this policy)

Mowing is the basis of producing good playing surfaces.

Mowing regularly at an appropriate height of cut and the quality of the mower is still the most important single factor in producing really good playing surfaces.

FineGolf has awarded “The Conservation Cut” accolade to Baroness for its cutting technology.

The ‘Augusta Syndrome’ of soft and receptive, quick greens as seen on TV creates enormous pressure on club greenkeepers, particularly from low handicappers, to cut the greens short for speed.

Poa annua has to be mown close (2 to 3mm) for speed but this can have lethal results hence the soubriquet “the quick and the dead”.  Fine wiry grasses produce quick surfaces without having to be scalped to their roots and indeed some pure fescue greens cut at 6mm give a Greenstester reading of 11+ feet in dry conditions, though normally they are cut at 5mm and give a speed of between 9 and 10 which is the ideal speed for recreational golf and a quick ‘pace of play’.

The speed of fine golf club greens will vary being dependant on the amount of local rainfall at any particular time in the year, unlike many target-style clubs who employ an expensive  maintenance regime that often attempts to maintain a constant speed across all the seasons.

Self seeding slows greens: A major factor in slowing down the speed of greens made of Poa annua is that it seeds at low level. Fine grasses seed on high stems. When growing seeding pods appear on greens often in the spring, they are from the Poa annua.  The use of the verticutter machine, leaving close parallel lines on the sward, is often an attempt to reduce Poa annua’s seeding characteristics. But it is also used to counteract browntop bents grass’ sideways habit, though this action can disturb the wanted fescue grasses and so conservation greenkeepers are careful with the use of the verticutter.

Influence of TV:

Greenkeepers need protection from ignorant club members who if infected by Augusta Syndrome Disease (ASD) demand lush green fairways and heavily watered, scalped greens as seen on television.  These types of conditions may make it easier for them to score well short term with target-style golf and keep to their low handicaps but they are a recipe for degeneration of the turf longer term and thereby their enjoyment.

The cardinal sin is overwatering.

It encourages the wrong grasses. Greenkeepers of fine courses allow greens and fairways to dry out.    Have a look at a bumpy fairway and what do you see?  The fine grasses are on the top of the dry ridge and in the wet furrows are found the weed meadow grasses.  The solution?  Aeration, to stop rain running off the ridge and more aeration, to give drainage in the furrow.

A technological breakthrough called Wetting Agents is being increasingly used to help moisture retention in dry areas of greens and surroundings. No longer does the whole irrigation system have to be turned-on to just irrigate a small dry area. Indeed hand-watering is on the increase and the moisture metre has become one of the most important pieces of greenkeeping equipment. This saves gallons of water, while just keeping  the grass alive rather than an over-watered lush colour of green.

Fine aprons are vital.

One of the distinctions between fine courses and others is that a fine course encourages the bump and run shot . This requires modern grooming and scarification exercised on aprons to greens.

On Lush Target-style courses the fairway grass is comparatively long right up to the green so that, if they are to have a predictability of bounce, the golfer has to use a wedge to pitch onto the green and the surface needs to be soft to hold the shot.

Quality of aprons: Greenkeepers need to be encouraged to de-thatch and improve the consistency of their aprons so we see more golfers using the bump and run. On a Running-Golf course the aprons and run-offs it is as important to have a consistency of bounce as on the greens.

Tight turf is fun:

One of the enjoyable aspects of FineGolf is negotiating the bumps and hollows around greens played off tight dry turf, when the four wedges in your bag are not necessarily an advantage!

Encourage fine turf:

All greenkeeping hinges on the precept that, if we copy the basic conditions found in nature, where these fine fescue and browntop bent grasses dominate, and therefore keep out their competitors, then the grasses we want will thrive.  Even where past mismanagement has resulted in annual meadow grass dominance, correcting the course management policy will slowly but surely achieve a swing back to fine turf.

Fine golf is an all-round winner:

The finest courses have knowledgeable green committees who encourage their green staff to take a long term strategy that ignores the pull of lush target golf.  In the long term, keeping to the principles so beautifully and amusingly elucidated by Jim Arthur in his book “Practical Greenkeeping“ will give golf club members courses that play better all the year round, conserve water, protect the ecology and natural character while aiding disease control and weed invasion and reduce agri-chemical pollution of the soil and the subsequent run-off to rivers.

Reduce costs with FineGolf

The target-style courses have to spend unnecessary amounts on fertiliser, water, pesticides and maintenance to keep their meadow grass (Poa annua) dominated courses alive and are often closed for days in the winter.

Fine courses run on much smaller budgets, cutting out fertiliser, pesticides and over-watering. The grasses need less maintenance and cutting and the greens are firm and in use all year round.

Support your Greenkeeper

…to pursue a long term policy of Conservation Greenkeeping and make sure the succession of Captains don’t bring the wrong management to your course, influenced by watching too much target-style  TV golf.