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Key Takeaways

  • Closely mown areas are a great way to add variety and interest to shots around putting greens.
  • Successful establishment involves more than just reducing the height of cut.
  • Careful planning is essential to be sure that drainage and irrigation needs are met when adding these areas.
  • Closely mown areas are higher maintenance than the rough that they replace. Equipment needs and other resources for their care must be met for these areas to perform as expected.
  • Playability of these areas is most affected by height of cut, which dictates how far the ball rolls away from the green and the shot options for the player.
     

Putting green surrounds provide a variety of challenges depending upon how they are designed and maintained. Rough and bunkers are very common to encounter when a player misses the putting green. Another feature that is often used is closely mown turf immediately off the sides or behind a green. These areas are mowed at or below fairway height in most cases and have a variety of names. Chipping areas, roll-off areas, collection areas and closely mown surrounds are a few common ways to describe them. For this article, I will call them “closely mown areas” and focus on the sides and behind putting greens – not approaches.

Closely mown areas can be designed in many different ways. They usually encourage errant shots to settle farther from the green than rough that is more likely to stop a ball quickly. However, closely mown surrounds also can serve as a backstop or “kicker” that allows a golfer with creativity to play shots that bounce or roll onto the green using surrounding contours. Closely mown areas provide a variety of shot options. A player must choose between a chip shot, a flop shot or they can even use a putter to get the ball on the green. The best option depends on the player and the architecture. Just having to make the decision often plays a key role in the challenge.

Some courses have closely mown areas around greens as part of their original design and some do not. In recent years, it has become increasingly popular to add these areas around putting greens to increase variety. There also are courses that were originally designed with closely mown areas around the greens but converted them to rough at some point and now wish to restore them. Before diving into establishing these areas, two important questions should be answered.

Do the green surrounds in question lend themselves to establishing and maintaining closely mown areas?

Introducing closely mown areas where steep slopes exist may create maintenance headaches. Maintaining tightly mown turf on steep slopes can be very difficult and it may create playability challenges that are too extreme for many golfers. Conversely, if the immediate surrounds of a green are too flat, these areas may not play as expected and essentially become a large and forgiving collar. A golf course architect should be consulted to evaluate where closely mown surrounds can be incorporated to achieve the desired effect and whether any modifications to the layout or topography would be required.

Does the golf course maintenance team have the necessary equipment and resources to maintain these new areas?

Adding any closely mown turf will increase maintenance costs compared to rough, and if steep contours are present, current equipment may not be adequate for maintenance. Closely mown turf will require more frequent mowing than rough and requires increased inputs of plant protectants such as fungicides and plant growth regulators to keep it in good condition. In addition, periodic aeration and topdressing will be necessary to maintain firmness and prevent scalping. The potential need for additional equipment, infrastructure and resources must be accounted for before any work begins.

Assuming the answer to both questions is yes, the process of determining where closely mown areas may enhance your putting green complexes can begin. It is important to reemphasize that a golf course architect is an invaluable part of this process. An architect will see small things that can be done to make these areas a great addition. An outside contractor may be needed to execute the establishment of these areas depending upon the scope of work and the in-house resources available.

Planning

Many factors with respect to playability, infrastructure and practicality of maintenance need to be considered before establishing closely mown areas. Proper planning is essential. Successful establishment requires far more than simply reducing mowing height in most instances! Before the physical work of establishing closely mown areas begins, consider taking the following steps.

  • Determine the areas where closely mown surrounds will be established. Painted lines or pin flags can be used to delineate areas to be converted from rough to closely mown turf. A hose or rope can be laid on the ground to outline proposed areas for better visualization of how they will look from the fairway or tee. Looking at the mowing contours in this way allows adjustments to be made before work begins. Drone technology can also be used to evaluate proposed mowing lines and document progress during the project. Once the proposed contours are finalized, they can be recorded by GPS to prevent them from being lost before the project is executed. Alternatively, you can make sure to keep the areas clearly marked with paint until they’re ready for conversion.

  • Be sure that the proposed closely mown areas don’t have inherent playability issues. For example, will most balls that miss the green collect in the same small area? In these situations, excessive divoting may create problems for maintenance and playability. Will most balls come to rest at the interface of the closely mown area and surrounding rough? If this scenario happens too frequently, it will not be well-received by golfers. Subtle adjustments to slopes and/or mowing lines may improve ball dispersion and prevent these and other common issues associated with closely mown surrounds.

  • Consider potential drainage problems. Additional drainage may be needed to move water out of low-lying closely mown areas. Catch basins are often installed to drain these areas, but consider their placement carefully. Installing a catch basin in the wrong spot can lead to frequent rules issues if balls tend to end up on drainage grates. If possible, locate catch basins in the rough adjacent to the closely mown area. This will reduce playability issues and the visual impact of the basins. If this is not an option, try to reduce slope around the catch basin enough that balls have a chance to come to rest before they reach it.

  • Evaluate irrigation coverage and plan for any changes to the location of irrigation heads to allow soil moisture to be properly managed. Irrigation requirements are much different for closely mown areas than rough, so adjust accordingly.

 

While there are other factors involved, those discussed above represent the most prominent potential challenges that should be considered as these areas are designed.

Establishment

The methods for establishment can vary. However, best results are generally achieved when the existing rough is removed to expose bare soil. Any changes to contours can then be made and the soil prepared prior to establishment of new grass. The exception to this may be where warm-season grasses such as bermudagrass, zoysiagrass or seashore paspalum are the established grass on green surrounds. If surface contours are acceptable and drainage and irrigation are adequate, the height of cut for these grasses can be gradually reduced for effective conversion to closely mown areas without soil disruption.

For cool-season grasses, reducing the height of cut on existing rough rarely provides the desired outcomes for appearance and playability of these areas. Seeding or sodding to establish grasses that tolerate low mowing height, such as creeping bentgrass, are better options for successful establishment. Sodding is preferred to provide clear definition between closely mown areas and surrounding turf and to reduce the likelihood of erosion during the project. The period of disruption is also much shorter when sod is used. Starting with a pure stand of the right grass increases the likelihood of success.

If particularly hardy unwanted grasses are present in areas planned for closely mown surrounds, multiple applications of nonselective herbicides to eradicate them prior to initiating conversion is recommended. Otherwise, these grasses will rapidly encroach into a converted area.

Maintenance considerations

Assuming that basic agronomic needs such as thatch and pest management are being tended to, playability of closely mown areas is largely dictated by mowing height. The ideal mowing height varies by the turf type and design characteristics of these areas on a given golf course. Height of cut should be low enough to promote errant shots rolling away from the putting green. If height of cut is such that balls only trickle off the green and get hung up, much of the character of these areas is lost. Conversely, the areas should not play so “fast” that every ball rolls far away from the green or rolls into the rough.

Mowing height should be such that players have a range of options for the type of shot to be played. Do you use a putter from off the green or is a pitch shot or “bump and run” the better play? If height of cut is too low, most players will use a putter; too high, and most players choose a chipping club. The ideal height of cut for closely mown areas presents players with a variety of options and requires choices to be made based upon ground contours, hole location and putting green conditions. In most instances, height of cut in closely mown green surrounds will need to be lower than fairways for proper playability.

Conclusion

Closely mown areas are a design feature that can add interest to approach and recovery shots, but they should fit with the architecture of the golf course to be truly successful. Having a single closely mown area around only one of 18 green complexes is probably going to look forced. Maintenance requirements are also an important part of success. Many closely mown areas have been established without realizing that they require specialized maintenance to present high-quality turf conditions and good playability. These features require more intensive maintenance than the rough areas that they replace, which ultimately translates to higher costs. Closely mown areas should not be added without careful consideration of potential changes in infrastructure that may be required as well. Without proper planning, turf conditions and playability of these areas may prove to be a disappointment.