these Open Championship Clubs choose to relief grind - Pitchcare

Golf
When Greg Evans ‘came out’ about
maintaining greens in an aggressive
manner (such as cutting at heights as
low as 2mm), a huge amount of
debate and discussion followed,
questioning the merits of such a
method. Some commented that the
greens would be dead within three
years. Others said that the approach
was irresponsible at best and suicidal
at worst. A silent few also maintained
their greens in this fashion, but they
went about their business without
comment.
Whatever your views, the topic has at
least got people talking; a discussion
that continues three years after his
first article was published in Pitchcare
One of the biggest criticisms
of my method was the lack
of data supporting it. This
used to really frustrate me,
as I knew it worked but
could not prove it with anything
except anecdotal evidence. I would
not undertake a new regime or
method without evidence of the
results to expect. With this in mind,
I started collating my own data two
years ago. Organic matter tests,
infiltration rates, bulk density,
tissue analysis, sward density, ball
roll speeds and more besides. By
investigating my method, I hope to
understand it more and hopefully
eliminate future mistakes.
Right from the start, I split the
tests into two categories; agronomy
and playability. To produce a top
maintenance plan you need to have
a balance of these two disciplines.
There’s no point going out spiking
How
SMOOTH
are YOU?
every week if you are losing
members and your club’s finances
are going to pot! Get the balance
right and a successful regime is
sure to follow.
In this article I am considering
playability (arguably the most
important issue for golfers), leaving
the agronomy for another time. If
daisies produced great surfaces,
golfers would quite happily putt on
them.
Speed, Smoothness and
Firmness = Playability
One of the biggest complaints
from golfers is that, despite their
greenkeepers doing all the
agronomic work, the surfaces don’t
seem to be improving. Speed
matters a great deal to golfers and
we are commonly asked “What
speed are the greens today?”
Golfers generally love quick greens.