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S.P.E.E.D. - Consider What's Right for
Your Course
By Paul Vermeulen, Agronomist
Mid-Continent Region, USGA Green Section
Reprinted from the USGA Green Section Record
1995 November/December Vol 33(6): 1-5
Since the humble beginnings of the game, golfers have maintained
an immense interest in the quality of the putting surface. This
should come as no surprise, considering that almost half the strokes
recorded on the scorecard by most golfers are taken on the greens.
Unfortunately, high Stimpmeter readings are often used today as
the sole criterion for evaluating putting quality when, in fact,
many greens simply were not designed or built with high readings
in mind. Depending on such variables as the principal resources
available for course maintenance, environmental conditions, the
expertise of the golfers who play the course, and the annual volume
of play, maintaining smooth, consistent putting greens at slower
Stimpmeter readings may be a more practical and worthy objective.
A review of putting green conditions over the past one hundred years
reveals how green speed became the focal point of most discussions
about putting quality. For without some knowledge about how putting
green turf was maintained and evolved, it would be easy to lose
sight of where the turfgrass industry stands today.
In the spirit of the centennial year of the United States Golf Association,
a good place to start looking at the history of putting conditions
is at the turn of the 20th Century. As there are no detailed records
of putting quality, and putting green speed in particular, the condition
of the putting greens can be considered only by examining the golf
clubs and mowing equipment used in the late 1890's.
To control long putts, early American golfers needed to get the
ball airborne over the tall grass. For this reason, putters were
made with a loft as high as twelve degrees. During the past 75 years
or so, this measurement has been steadily declining, and today the
average loft is between two and four degrees.
Mowing equipment also has changed considerably in the last century.
Before the introduction of the motorized mower in the 1920's, greens
were cut with crude push mowers set at a quarter of an inch or higher.
As a consequence, the quality of the cut depended greatly on the
training and physical condition of the maintenance staff.
Using information about vintage golf clubs and mowing equipment,
it's a sure bet that the quality of putting greens when Charles
Blair McDonald won the first U. S. Open Championship at Newport
Country Club was a far cry from that of the putting greens on which
the U.S. Open is played today. To illustrate the difference between
then and now, imagine putting a golf ball on a poorly maintained
tee with a one-iron versus putting on the greens at your home course.
Agronomically speaking, much in the past one hundred years has changed,
from the species and cultivars of turf being grown to the kinds
of fertilizer used to nurture its growth. In the beginning, there
were no fungicides to control diseases like Dollar Spot and Brown
Patch, no 2, 4-D to kill dandelions, and crabgrass had to be plucked
from the putting greens by hand or it would have taken over by Independence
Day. It was quite simply a bare-fisted superintendent against an
irate Mother Nature, with golfers putting on the battlefield.
From the 1920's to the 1950's, things started changing for the better.
During this era, new products for controlling major pest problems,
new turfgrass varieties, new equipment, and synthetic fertilizers
gave superintendents the means to maintain putting greens similar
to what golfers see today. For the first time, golfers could begin
to recognize the difference between well maintained putting greens
and sparse turf damaged by disease and infested with weeds.
One individual who wrote to the USGA to describe a procedure to
distinguish good putting greens from bad was Mr. Edward S. Stimpson.
In 1936, Mr. Stimpson developed a prototype of the Stimpmeter that
is used today.
The Stimpmeter is a 36-inch extruded aluminum bar with a grooved
runway on one side. A notch in the runway is used to support a golf
ball until one end of the Stimpmeter is lifted to an angle of roughly
20 degrees. The average distance the golf ball travels after two
opposing rolls down the Stimpmeter is referred to as the speed.
The farther the ball rolls, the faster the green.
Mr. Stimpson learned through personal use of his prototype Stimpmeter
that there was great variation in the speed of greens where competitive
golf was played. He also found great variation in the condition
of greens on the same course, and between hole locations on the
same green.
He believed, and the Green Section staff agrees, that without some
form of quantitative measurement, superintendents and course officials
cannot evaluate playing conditions, discuss maintenance practices,
and establish reasonable goals with respect to green speed. Indeed,
superintendents who wanted to do a better job of managing the putting
conditions on their courses were the first to approach Mr. Stimpson
for his device.
After the USGA introduced the current version of the Stimpmeter
in 1978, it was not long before a new philosophy developed. "The
faster the better" became the rallying call that bonded golfers
across the country. The basis for this new philosophy was the observation
that as speed increased, the roll of the golf ball across the surface
was more true. A meaningful translation is that the greens became
more enjoyable to putt as they got faster, at least to a point.
This one-size-fits-all mentality, having evolved from an era when
green speeds were considerably slower than today, has grown into
a real problem. Many golfers fail to realize the importance of the
fact that no two golf courses are physically alike, and that the
players at each course are different with respect to their golfing
abilities.
Given the major differences between courses and their players, what
factors can be used to evaluate how fast is fast enough? To help
you analyze your situation, consider the following five criteria
represented by the acronym SPEED. The limit for putting green speed
should be set by using the two or three criteria that produce the
lowest speeds.
The acronym SPEED stands for:
- Status of the turf
- Principal resources
- Environmental conditions
- Expertise of the golfers
- Design
To illustrate how the five letter acronym SPEED can be used in various
situations, Table 1 shows the optimum putting green speed for two
examples. Example one, showing an optimum speed of eight feet six
inches, is a new course planted with a new creeping bentgrass variety.
The moderately contoured putting greens were built according to
USGA Specifications and the resources available for course maintenance
are not limiting. The expertise of the large majority of golfers
is characterized as less than accomplished, and the prevailing environmental
conditions are somewhat unfavorable. The optimum speed in this example
is set by the contouring of the greens and the expertise of the
golfers.
Example two, showing an optimum speed of eight feet, is a course
built in the late 1950's that was established with Colonial bentgrass
which has given way to Poa annua during the past forty years. The
contoured putting greens were built with soil native to the site,
and three inches of sand has accumulated from regular topdressing.
The resources available for course maintenance are not limiting.
The expertise of the average golfer is characterized as accomplished,
and the prevailing environmental conditions are somewhat unfavorable.
The optimum speed in this example is set by the status of the turf
as dictated by prevailing weather conditions.
Example 1: Optimum speed set by the contouring
of putting greens and the expertise of the golfers.
Example 2: Optimum speed set by the status of the
turf as dictated by the prevailing weather conditions.
To determine the optimum Stimpmeter reading for each course, analyze
the criteria represented by the acronym S.P.E.E.D. The limit for
putting green speed should be set by using the lowest speed of all
five criteria.
Historically, the agronomic Status of the turf has set the upper
limit for green speed. For decades superintendents under the direction
of course officials did everything in their power to increase Stimpmeter
readings until they reached the biological limit of the turf. Beyond
this limit the turf would perish.
In 1977, when detailed records of putting green speed were first
kept, most courses measured between five feet six inches and seven
feet six inches. Some find this difficult to believe, as the speeds
at several famous courses were purported to be so fast that stopping
a putt near the hole was like rolling a golf ball down a staircase
and stopping it on the last step. But by examining putting green
mowers used in the mid-1970's, it is known that they were adjusted
to a height-of-cut between 3/16" and 1/4".
It is not so much that superintendents twenty years ago were concerned
about killing the turf by mowing lower than 3/16", but the bedknives
available for the mowers were so thick that they could not be adjusted
any lower. The only exception was when the golf course mechanic
used a grinder to reduce the thickness of the bedknives. As a point
of reference, the "thin" or "championship"bedknives used by most
courses today were not sold until the 1980's.
Some believe that the introduction of the Stimpmeter in 1976 produced
a speed war. This war was fought by mowing greens lower and lower
and practicing other techniques in order to establish bragging rights
for having the fastest greens in the territory.
There were many casualties in the so-called speed war. Eventually,
greens slowly deteriorated from low mowing and excessive grooming;
in some cases, they died completely. In some areas of the country,
it is sad but true that battles in this war are still being fought.
With human pride being what it is, this war could rage on into the
21st Century.
In the 1990's, advances in technology have significantly increased
the tolerance of the turf to those practices that must be used to
produce high Stimpmeter readings. Probably the most meaningful technology
is the bulldozer, which has transformed poorly drained putting greens,
incapable of supporting turf at speeds greater than eight feet,
into ones that can be groomed to roll nine feet plus if necessary,
other conditions being favorable.
Determining the biological limit of your own greens can be difficult
and has been the subject of many articles in the Green Section Record.
But rest assured that if your greens die every other summer while
rolling nine feet six inches, you have gone too far. At that point,
there are two choices. The first is to raise the height of cut on
the mowers and grow healthy turf at a slower speed. The second is
to reconstruct the greens with the goal of maintaining faster speeds
in mind. Depending on what the golfers expect in regard to speed,
either choice can be appropriate.
As important as the current status of the turf are the Principal
resources available for maintaining the greens. To produce greens
that are both consistent and fast requires intensive maintenance
using the most sophisticated technology available. It cannot, and
should not, be accomplished by simply lowering the mowers one afternoon
and going out the next morning to shave the greens down to the crowns.
In preparation for U. S. Open Championships, greens are placed on
an intensive schedule of light topdressing, vertical mowing, brushing,
rolling, spiking, aerification, fertilization, . . . you name it.
It's all required to produce a consistently fast putting surface.
Such a schedule requires manpower, a large stockpile of materials,
and plenty of equipment.
Under no circumstances should "life on the edge" turf management
be attempted without the required resources. The results will always
be short-lived, because the turf will invariably experience problems.
The best managed courses use the resources available to them, and
they do so to their fullest potential.
Ask any superintendent who has been knocked out in the first round.
The true champion of the turfgrass industry is Mother Nature. During
certain times of the year, depending on location, prevailing Environmental
conditions can dramatically reduce the ability of the turf to survive.
During these periods, Stimpmeter readings should be reduced without
hesitation by raising the cutting height.
When common sense doesn't prevail, some people desperately want
to believe that because today's technology can place a man on the
moon, greens can be maintained at a speed of eleven feet regardless
of the stress on the turf. This assumption is, of course, ridiculous.
At the time of year when Mother Nature is in control of the fight,
it is clearly unwise to consider risking the survival of the greens
for a few extra inches of speed.
Because at the present time there are still no guaranteed means
of successfully maintaining fast putting speeds during unfavorable
environmental conditions, a few words seem in order about scheduling
special events. Ideally, it would be best to plan tournaments, such
as the Club Championship, during a time of year when the turf can
handle a temporary increase in speed. The U.S. Open Championship,
for example, is scheduled in mid-June.
Mindful scheduling would create an opportunity, if desired, to give
the greens the extra attention required to bring them into championship
condition. If tournaments must be scheduled when Mother Nature is
in control, than playing the greens at a slower speed would be better
than jeopardizing their condition through excessive mowing or grooming.
Clearly, a few golfers at every course have a higher level of Expertise
than the majority of golfers. When highly contoured greens are maintained
at Stimpmeter readings in excess of eight feet six inches, the expertise
of a professional golfer can be required to sink a putt in two strokes.
Taking this into consideration, it stands to reason that greens
should generally be maintained in a manner that best suits the vast
majority of users of the course.
At courses where the handicaps of many golfers are in the single
digits, it would be appropriate to maintain fast putting greens,
other conditions being favorable. But at courses where the large
majority of golfers have high handicaps, the greens would be more
enjoyable to the majority if they were maintained at or near eight
feet six inches.
Because the game of golf has become so popular, the damage caused
by traffic should always be considered when determining the optimum
putting green speed for the course. According to their Design, the
number of available hole locations decreases as the speed of the
greens increases. The reason is that some contoured or sloped areas
of the putting surface can no longer be used for hole locations.
In short, a putt that misses the hole placed on a slope on a fast
putting green will not come to rest near the hole. By reducing the
number of reasonable hole locations, the greens can become subject
to damage caused by heavy golfer traffic.
And, if the number of reasonable hole locations drops below seven
or eight per green because they are being maintained too fast, the
course may become less enjoyable to play regularly because the setup
is always similar. For example, a green that would have seven or
eight hole locations at a speed of eight feet six inches might have
only three to four at a speed of ten feet six inches. For a three-
or a four-day tournament a speed of ten feet six inches, this would
be adequate. However, for daily play the hole would end up in a
particular location more than once per week.
In conclusion, every golf course is unique because of its agronomic
Status, Principal resources, Environmental conditions, golfer Expertise,
and physical Design. In determining the optimum green speed, course
officials should seek input from the superintendent, the golf professional,
and outside sources, such as the USGA Green Section staff.
It is incorrect to state that only fast greens are good and that
all slower greens are bad. Also, because the hallmark of a good
course is consistent putting, the Stimpmeter is as important for
maintaining putting greens at ten feet as it is for eight feet.
Gone are the days when fast was always good, and faster yet was
even better!
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