Golf Course Maintenance

There are four distinct turfgrass areas to the golf course which need to be considered: 1. Greens; 2: Tees; 3: Fairways, and 4: Rough (which can be sub-divided into Semi-Rough; Standard Rough, and Deep Rough).

In addition, the sand bunkers will form another area which need regular maintenance. Golf is a year-round sport, often with the use of winter tees from October to March and the occasional use of winter, or temporary, greens when the weather and ground conditions would cause undue wear and deterioration to normal greens if play continued on them.

There are five defined areas on a golf course:

The general area, which is the entire course except the following:
• The current teeing area, which is the rectangular area of where the tee markers are located (being two club lengths deep), for the hole being played.
• The putting green of the hole being played (not all the other greens).
• All penalty areas on the course.
• All bunkers on the course.
(Source: The R&A: The Official Rules of Golf, accessed 19/12/2023)

The correct specification of all materials during maintenance work, and also during initial construction work, will significantly aid the greenkeeper in being able to create a well-presented golf course. Deploying good working practices and good knowledge and understanding of the why, when, how and what of greenkeeping as well as having adequate resources is an essential part of producing the ideal ‘fit-for-purpose’ golf course.

The ‘Basic Principles of Greenkeeping’ should also be followed as a starting point for golf course maintenance, however, there is a large variance in the native soil types (especially for fairways), construction types, resources available, the influence on weather on the site conditions, as well as opportunities to try different working practices, new machinery technology and materials, and also a variability in desired standards from the different features of a golf course that any maintenance and management plan must be designed specifically to meet the needs of a particular course. The following information provides a solid and general foundation on which to build a good maintenance programme, but adaptations will be needed for individual circumstances, ideally being devised by the course manager.

The actual maintenance work carried out on a golf course can vary significantly so the following is a general guide only.