Our Experts Explain

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Experts Explain: Switch It Up

Posted: 5/27/2009

Some members of our Green Committee want us to change hole locations on a daily basis. We have not done this in the past because we receive a low volume of play during the week. Should we be changing holes every day?

The number of times hole locations are changed each week are dependent on golfer traffic, turf growth and labor availability. For daily play, the purpose for changing the hole is to distribute traffic over the entire surface of the green to prevent wear damage. On heavily played courses, changing the hole daily may be a necessity to prevent excessive turf wear. Lightly played courses may choose to change the holes daily, not out of traffic concerns, but rather to keep the course more interesting for players fortunate enough to play every day. As a general rule, most golf course superintendents prefer daily hole changing, but not all courses have enough labor hours to accomplish this task every day unless it is absolutely necessary to prevent damage to the green. Many courses reach a compromise, with new holes cut following a day of heavy play, while using the same hole location for consecutive slow play days.
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