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 ball
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Golf Fairways Scarification and Verticutting
Periodic scarification will also be needed as this helps to keep the surface slightly open and reduces any thatch build-up and can also help to reduce the content of trailing weeds within the sward.
Verticutting will also be undertaken to maintain an upright sward which, combined with scarification, will help to provide an ideal situation by allowing a golf ball to be struck more cleanly than on a matted, more prone leaved sward.
The frequency of verticutting will depend on available resources and may range from not being carried out, relying on scarification only, to fortnightly, or greater.
Golf Green Chatter
Physical conditions on a golf green which can influence the quality of a putt and deviation of a ball from its intended end point.
Chatter might include surface irregularities, hollow tine or other aeration holes, a soft thatchy surface, Poa annua seed heads, or anything which can influence, typically in a small or nuanced way, the true running and smoothness of a golf ball.
Golf Green Smoothness
A measure of the bumpiness of a green, especially of how well a golf ball travels over the sward without bobbling.
This can be a performance standard and is a measure, usually in millimetres, of the vertical movement of a golf ball when travelling across the green.
Golf Green Speed
There are many factors which can influence the speed of a golf green, each having a varying degree of influence.
• Canaway, P.M. & Baker, S.W. (1992) ‘Ball roll characteristics of five turfgrasses used for golf and bowling greens’ The Journal of the Sports Turf Research Institute, Vol. 68, pp88-94,
• Nikolai, T.A. (2005) ‘The superintendent’s guide to controlling putting green speed’, John Wiley & Sons,
• Rixon, S. (2018) ‘The Need for Green Speed’
• Waters, G. (2020),
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Golf Green Trueness
A measure of the sideways deviation of a ball from a line of putt.
This can be a performance standard and is a measure, usually in millimetres, of the horizontal (lateral) movement of a golf ball from a defined line of putt.
Golf Greens Aeration
Aeration needs to be carried out throughout the year, with adapting the equipment and tines used to suit the ground conditions, time of year and other maintenance work being carried out.
The summer period is when greens and other areas of the course will look their best. This is also the time when golfers will expect minimal, if any, disturbance on the greens from maintenance activities. Grass is in a state of constant change as it progresses through its lifecycle. Leaves and basal sheaths die on a frequent and consistent basis and constant foot traffic and mechanical work compact the unde
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Golf Greens Biostimulants
Biostimulant use can help to address some of the imbalance which might occur due to the intensity of maintenance activities as well as over reliance and use of pesticides. Soil microbiology can be severely inhibited due to modern construction, very high sand percentages, and maintenance techniques. The application of organic supplements, as biostimulants, can help redress any imbalance and improve the health of the turfgrass plant.
Biostimulants are products which might be applied to a sward for many reasons, including encouraging the increase in soil micro-organisms, increase organic decom
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Golf Greens Brushing and Switching
Brushing and switching are important regular, but simple, tasks which are used to keep the surface free of dew and also for knocking over any worm casts which might be present.
A drag brush is also helpful in keeping the grass blades upright and to help maintain suitable air flow around the blades during the time of year when mowing is reduced to a minimum. A drag brush will often be mounted onto a utility vehicle, via a three-point link with the top link hydraulically operated to enable rapid lowering and raising on a green.
All 18-greens on a standard golf course would then be able t
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Golf Greens Decompaction
Whilst aeration can help break through compacted layers and into compacted profiles, a more ‘disruptive’ action may be needed to improve the situation and decompact the profile, especially where deep seated compaction is a problem.
Action will be needed to reduce the density of the soil profile and increase pore spaces as a percentage of a soil volume. This will typically be achieved by hollow-tining to remove cores, deep spiking (e.g. verti-draining) to shatter a soil profile to create fissures within the soils and to produce a defined degree of surface lift, linear aeration to produce sha
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