If you have been at the course Thursdays before the Men's Commercial League you've likely seen staff operating a piece of equipment that scuttles sideways across greens like a drunken crab. The machine is our Greens Iron 3900 - a mechanical roller designed to smooth putting surfaces and increase the speed of the greens. Rolling greens is a practice with a long history. Implemented at Links this year, weekly rolling of the greens seems to be having a positive effect on greens and has drawn praise, or at least comments, from many members.
Rolling greens as part of a maintenance program dates back well over a hundred years. It was common in the 1920's to roll greens after they had been cut, to smooth out imperfections in the putting surface. Improvements to mowing equipment, and the fear that persistent rolling would compact soils and inhibit grass growth on the greens, caused courses to move away from rolling as a maintenance process, though it never went away as an aid in establishing new turf or putting greens. In the late 1980's a desire to further increase putting speeds saw a resurgence in rolling as a cultural practice and manufacturers soon developed a variety of mechanized rollers to replace the traditional water filled drums that had been dragged behind carts or pushed with brute force by course workers.
Our Greens Iron 3900 is one of the more modern mechanized rollers. The operator sits over top of two sets of heavy drums. The large drum stays fixed in position, while a smaller drum is connected to the steering and allows the operator to determine the direction they hope to roll. A Honda motor drives a chain drive system and pedals at the operators feet can be pushed to make the iron go left or right. The machine does take some getting used to. Steering is counter intuitive and braking is done by easing off on the operating pedals. The slightest miscalculation in pushing or pulling the Y shaped banana bike handle bars can set the operator weaving crazily off course. Done properly, the rolling procedure looks smooth, like waves lapping back and forth across a green lake. Sadly, I'm not quite up to that standard yet. It takes all the concentration I have to steer a passably straight line. Throw in some time constraints and the occasional golfer or two and you have a recipe for sore shoulders and high anxiety!
However, the results seem to speak for themselves. When we get it right, the roller does jack up the rate of ball roll significantly. More than one member has mentioned how they've been cranking putts well past the hole until they get the sense of how the putting surface has been improved. The roller has sufficient weight to smooth out most spike and ball marks, but its not a substitute for good member maintenance practices. Having you fix those pesky ball marks - your own and one or two others - always helps keep the greens at their best.
With the advent of some summer weather the crew has finally had to turn on the sprinkler system to keep the greens and tees hydrated and growing. If you are amongst our early morning golfers you have seen the evidence of the sprinklers' early morning watering in the form of the heavy dew like layer of moisture that carpets greens and tees before the mowers get to them. Finding the right level of moisture has been a real challenge this year. The small areas of damage on the edges of two, three and four greens certainly bear witness to this. Having gone from soupy wet to bone dry in quick order has caused the grass to drown, die and struggle to come back, and these areas will continue to require persistent attention for some time.
Rolling further compacts and stresses these areas. The more established grass on the rest of the the surface is impacted by rolling, but is better able to cope with the stress. Consequently, rolling is restricted to one day a week, with most of the benefits being played out in the 48 - 72 hours that follow. The greens that are lightning fast Thursday night are still quick well into the weekend but by Monday the surface has begun to rebound and slow down once again.
Obtaining the Greens Iron last February was a bit of a gamble. So far that gamble appears to be paying off. While staff get used to the quirky way it steers, the Greens Iron gives golfers the smooth surfaces they desire and the quicker greens that make Commercial League more interesting. Time, practice and experience will allow both members and staff to get on a positive roll right through to the end of the year!
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