All the courses here I play have bermuda greens, and seem to be mostly bermuda fairways. Here in south Florida, our growing season is basically all year long, so burmuda grass doesn't die back like it does where the temperature gets below freezing. I would suspect it's a different situation in northern Florida, where the weather can get well below freezing. Our normal high in January is about 70 degrees.
The reason why I am asking is because...in the area where I live some of the higher end courses have replaced their greens with new ones. They seem to be pretty hard. How long does it take before they get soft? I know there is Bermuda but I really would like a more specific list.
Much better. Ok here goes. Higher end courses these days are starting to install Ultradwarf Bermuda grasses. The most common of these is TifEagle. The blades are very fine and it can handle a lower height of cut, thus creating fast green speeds. It's very dificult to maintain however, which is why you see higher end clubs installing it, because they should have the budget to maintain it.
As for the firmness. USGA Spec on Greens construction is about a 90%/10% mixture of sand to orgnanic. Most courses use a little less organic, so the majority of the green is nothing but sand. If you have ever been to the beach at low tide, you'll notice how firm the sand is. Same thing here. Greens soften up because organic will start to build up just below the surface of the green. This organic is a mixture of plant material, fertilizer and many other things. It's commonly know as thatch. This is what causes a green to be soft and spongey. Most golf courses try to decrease the amount of thatch in their greens, but aerification, grooming, verticuting and topdressing.
As for a time frame..... It all depends on the maintenance practices of the golf course. If they fertilize and water too much, or fail to verticut, aerify and topdress, then they could soften up in several months. A good superintendent will be able to keep them firm for sevearal years.
That's why you see a lot of the PGA Tour stops renovating their greens so often. At some point, you can never keep up with the thatch buildup, so in order to keep PGA Tour standards, you just have to rebuild them. A lot of times, they will just strip the top few inches off to remove the thatch, then they refill it with sand/pete mix.
My father was a superintendent for 36 years. My brother was in golf construction for 15+ years. I've worked in the golf industry in some capacity for 15 years.
I've worked on course at 3 different Country Clubs for over 20 years.
Very nice track record!! These days the life of a superintendent isn't very long. Three clubs for over 20 years is pretty good. My father built the first 27 holes at his resort and has been there for 36 years. He was recently let go when the club decided to bring in a Maintenance company.
June 7th, 2008, 11:22 PM
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