Golf Greens Mowing Frequency 
The frequency of mowing will vary according to the desired standards being produced as well as the time of year. During the main growing periods, mowing on four occasions per week would typically be considered a minimum, whilst mowing daily is also a common practice. Trying to leave one or two days during a week as non-mowing days will help to reduce the stress placed on grass plants, however, there is clearly a trade-off to be made between ensuring suitable putting surfaces are produced without leaving the grass to grow to an unacceptable length before being cut.
Whilst the main growth pe
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Golf Greens Mowing Height of Cut
Greens are typically mown at a height from 4mm – 7mm during the main growing season and between 5mm – 9mm outside of the main growing season. A typical height of cut during the main growing season for the majority of clubs will be 4.5mm-5mm (which is the traditional 3/16", actually 4.76mm), whilst outside it can be up to 8mm, although some courses will continue to maintain it at 5mm over the winter period. Low heights of cut, especially during slowing growth periods into the autumn, limits the grass plants ability to build food reserves (carbohydrates) over that period for use during the winte
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Golf Greens Mowing The 1/3rd rule and Clip Rate
An important consideration in the mowing of any turfgrass surface is that of the ‘1/3rd rule’, which is really more of a useful guide than a strict figure to be adhered to throughout. However, for most turfgrasses removing no more than 33-40% of leaf at any one time helps to reduce harm and stress to the turfgrass plant. Removing less than this will be more beneficial, but there are trade-offs to be made with how often a surface can be mown with available resources, and how cost-effective increased mowing would be.
By harm and stress in this context it means reducing the
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Golf Greens Mowing Timings
The typical time to cut 18-greens with a triple mower might be 3-3½ hours (excluding pre-start checks and post use clean down, which might be another 30 minutes, or more), whilst cutting with a pedestrian mower might take 6 to 8 hours.
The actual times will depend on several factors, including the size of the greens and the distance needing to be travelled between greens, the competence of the greenkeeper with that machine as well as how tired or not they may be. For the pedestrian mower consideration in timings will also include whether it has to travel between greens with transpor
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Golf Greens Overseeding
Overseeding will also typically take place at the same time as top-dressing, although not where monthly top-dressings are practiced.
Overseeding with grass species which produce optimum playing surfaces has traditionally been with Chewings fescue and Browntop bent and these continue to be the main stay of most golf greens.
The growth of grass is not a uniform activity which produces a consistently even surface, growth is variable between species and cultivars. A greenkeeper needs to undertake a range of activities to produce a surface with uniform coverage – density and evenness of gra
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Golf Greens Pests
Earthworm casts, when present in relatively large number, can be a major maintenance and cosmetic problem. Damp casts will stick to the front and rear rollers of cylinder mowers, potentially increasing the cut height slightly if not regularly cleaned off. Casts will smear when brushed whilst moist causing potential problems of smothering the grass especially if they are not brushed again or switched once the sward and casts have dried in the day. In addition, the negative impact casts can have on ball roll and direction of putt can be considerable.
For much of the year, whe
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Golf Greens Rolling
Rolling, using a ride-on tandem type roller, as a ‘polish’ or light firming might be considered on occasions during the summer period to improve green speeds without causing undue compaction. If light rolling is carried out, then additional surface aeration will also be needed.
One example of these types of roller is the Tru-Turf R50-11 greens roller, which has a weight of 330kg, providing a ground pressure of 3.8psi. An adult human might have atypical ground pressure of 2.5 – 3.5psi.
Optional spiker or slitter units can also be connected underneath the chassis to work at the same time
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Golf Greens Scarification and Verticutting
Scarification and verticutting on a regular basis will help to prevent and control the development of thatch build-up and will also keep the surface layer open and free from decaying organic matter of cut and uncut leaves as well as plant sheaths.
Grass leaves having a relatively short life span, especially over the main growing season and these turn yellow and brown off when dying and need to be cleaned out from the sward if a uniform colour appearance is to be maintained throughout the year. These activities will help to maintain a surface which is healthier, has improved air-flow amongs
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Golf Greens Top-Dressing
Top-dressing is an important activity which should not be neglected, with a sandy, with organic elements, material being ideal. Various top-dressing periods can be considered, from traditional spring and early autumn applications, to regular very light dressings during the playing season at monthly intervals. The shorter the routine cut of the greens the more frequent the application of top-dressing, but tis will also depend on the intensity and amount of play that takes place. For greens cut at 5mm for most of the year two applications as a minimum might be typical, for 4mm cut greens this mi
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Golf Greens Type of Mower
The use of a pedestrian or ride-on triple cylinder mower can provide for interesting perspectives, but a majority of greenkeepers would indicate that a pedestrian mower will produce a higher quality cut than a triple mower. Much of this will, however, be due to personal preference and influenced by the quality of the mower, how well it has been maintained and set up and the skill of the user.
If there is a qualitative difference between a triple mower and pedestrian mower than this could be argued to be negligible, if at all in some cases, although nearly all modern mowers are finely engin
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