Golf Fairways Mowing

These will primarily be mown, at a typical range for the height of cut of 8mm (which is very tight) to 18mm, with the clippings mainly being let-fly.

Regular mowing will help create a desirable dense sward, which results in a smooth surface of relatively short grass, which is ideal for a golf ball bouncing and rolling down a fairway. A tight dense sward will also produce an ideal lie for a follow-on stroke of a golf ball within a fairway. It is important, however, to not let the grass grow too long otherwise significant clumps of cut grass can develop and this is not suitable for golf balls on a fairway.

Mowing too short, which might be considered less than 12mm in many cases, will reduce the ability of a fairway to better withstand wear and will reduce the resilience of the sward and will lead to more rapid drying and thinning out during dry weather.

Whilst cutting at 12mm, or less, will produce a surface on which a golf ball can roll a longer distance than one cut at 15mm-18mm, the agronomic benefits of the slightly longer sward will outweigh the extra rolling distance gained from a shorter sward in many situations.

Mowing frequency will vary depending on the grass species present and soil fertility, ideally no more than weekly mowing is carried out during much of the year, but on lusher fairways this may be twice weekly cutting, to having to cut on alternate days during optimum growing conditions, typically in May, on perennial ryegrass dominated, fertile and moist soils.

Where tournaments are being prepared for then mowing fairways on a daily basis leading up to the match day/s might be considered as this will eliminate any potential clumps of grass arisings and will also produce a more manicured surface for the event. This might be an important consideration if the event is televised.

A well striped, banded or a hashed pattern in fairways can provide a visual feast and is often the first feature readily observed by golfers just prior to starting a round of golf. A well-shaped fairway, rather than having rigid straight lines, provides an attractive ‘routemap’ from the tee to the green.

Tractor operated gang mowers, with 5 or 7 units, or a dedicated 5 gang fairway ride on mower, will enable most course fairways to be mown in about one-day. Where high end more intensively maintained fairways are required, then the use of triple mowers might be used, maybe taking up to 1½ days, although with clippings boxed off and removed, then this will increase the mowing time to maybe 2 to 3 days, depending on the volume of clippings removed and the ease of emptying boxes at defined locations.

The use of grass boxes to remove clippings from fairways can help where a transition from coarser to finer grasses is being aimed for. A limitation of this approach is that of significant quantities of clippings can be collected and these will need to be appropriately disposed of, ideally by recycling via a compost heap.

In practice though, the disposal of grass clippings can create a waste and storage problem due to the considerable quantities which can be produced from the combined totals of fairways, tees and greens. This is one particular reason why an emphasis on developing a fescue and bent grass fairway, along with low nutritional, if any, input is ideally aimed for, in contrast to a perennial ryegrass dominated one. The latter species is hungrier, requiring relatively high nutrient inputs (which incur additional expenses) and with a more rapid growing potential resulting in increased cutting requirements.

If hashed patterns are to be produced on fairways, in contrast to stripes or each half shaded, then this will mean they are double cut, effectively doubling mowing time where clippings are not removed, but not where they are removed as very little additional leaf should be taken off on the second cut. This will reduce the need for frequent emptying of grass boxes, which might mean a reduced total time of maybe 3.5 to 5 days.

On some fairways it might be desirable to collect clippings where annual meadow grass is flowering prolifically to help reduce the spread of this undesirable grass.

Dedicated fairway mowers, whilst not having the versatility of a tractor will weigh less, produce less ground pressure and will therefore contribute to less compaction. These machines can also be used in ground conditions which are unsuitable for tractor operations, so the ‘activity window’ for dedicated machines is often greater than that for tractor operated mowers.

Due to the large expanse of fairways, the mower operator is not able to check the surface prior to mowing, unlike say on a green. To reduce the chance of damage occurring to mower blades from stones or other hard debris it is essential that the operator is alert at all times – even when golfers are not present.

Knowing the location of sprinkler heads, especially when mowing approaches and green surrounds is important to avoid any potential damage to dislodge or slightly raised covers. Extra care should always be taken when mowing around or over sprinkler heads.

Sweeping fairways, typically with a powered rotary brush (e.g. Toro Pro Sweep), which may also have a vacuum unity attached (e.g. Trilo S3) especially during the period when they are infrequently mown, will aid presentation and can also be used to complement mowing during the main growing season as well. ]

Another option might be to use these machines more regularly where clippings are not boxed off but where clippings removal is required, on a fortnightly or monthly basis.

The removal of fallen leaves during the autumn period will be required on fairways which are lined by deciduous trees, so the availability of a sweeper can improve the efficiency of removal, especially when compared with a pedestrian operated vacuum which might be suitable for localised and small areas, or even laborious removal by hand raking.