Brushing Greens and Driving Range Tee

Today we brushed greens before mowing to stand the plant up, thus being able to mow more of the leaf tissue. When more leaf tissue is mowed there is less resistance to the golf ball when putting, making for increased green speeds. If you can picture a green as a clock with the approach being the 6 we will brush opposite of the mow. For example, brush 6 to 12 then mow 3 to 6. We more then double the amount of clippings from when we do not brush beforehand. Here's how it looks with Assistant Superintendent Charles Soper leading the way:

On Monday we took three areas on the lower driving range tee and planted them to different types of bermudagrass. Two of the areas were sodded and the third seeded. Bermudagrass does not produce seed but there are a handful that can propagate via seed. Bermudagrass normally is grown via stolons or sod since it is a warm season grass versus the cool season grasses we have out on the golf course. The warm season grasses such as bermudagrass thrive in the heat and go dormant when cold. Our goal by doing this is to determine which type of turf (bentgrass, ryegrass, bermudagrass) and which particular variety will do best.

In the picture you may notice the bermudagrass areas are lower then the existing tee. This is because the bermudagrass will grow much faster in the summer and produces lots of thatch which will make up the height difference once established.