Have you ever wondered how golf courses get their playing surfaces in top condition or what maintenance is required? This blog looks at how you can get your lawn up to a golf course standard.
What grasses are mainly used on golf courses?
For Fairways, Tees, and surrounds, most golf courses within Australia use a Couch or Kikuyu turfgrass, depending on location. More recently, courses have been able to start using new turfgrass like Sir Grange Zoysia available to the Australian market. For greens courses will generally use Couch grass, for cooler states Bent grass is used.
Mowing Requirements
Different areas of a course will have different mowing requirements. The mowing requirements across other areas will change depending on climate and season. For greens, some courses will need to be mowed once a day. Fairways too will need to be mown often, in some cases once every second day. Other areas including the tees and rough’s can be mown less frequently, sometimes 2-3 times a week.
If you want to get golf quality turf at your home, you will need to be mowing frequently enough so that only one-third of the leaf is removed with each pass. This way you will be minimising stress caused to the lawn, helping avoid scalping from occurring and keeping the grass healthier.
Type of mower
As different areas have different mowing requirements, various mowers are used. For tee boxes and the green surrounds, walk-behind & surrounds ride-on mowers (3 reels) are used. For fairways – cylinder fairway mowers (usually 5 reels), some courses still use tractor gang mowers. The greens use cylinder mowers, both walk behind & triplex ride-on mowers. Rough areas will usually use a rotary mower.
When getting that golf quality turf at home, we recommend either mowing with a cylinder mower. With a cylinder mower, you will get a much cleaner cut as it won’t tear the grass like a rotary mower. With any mower, it is important to ensure your blades are sharp for the best cut possible.
Products used
Insecticides
When using insecticides, using a preventive product is a more economical option. In addition, as courses need their turf to look and perform great year-round, it is better to use a preventative option rather than treating if damage occurs, as it can disrupt play.
One preventative insecticide option available for the domestic market is Grub Guard Ultimate and Acelepryn.
Herbicides
Like insecticides, it is much better to prevent weeds before they appear. A pre-emergent herbicide designed for a home lawn is Oxafert. Oxafert will help prevent seasonal grass weeds like Winter Grass, Summer Grass, Crab Grass, Crowsfoot, and Creeping Oxalis.
Plant Growth Regulators (PGR)
PGRs are commonly used on commercial areas as they can reduce grass growth (reduced mowing requirements), increase root density, and increased durability, along with many other benefits. As mowing requirements can take up large portions of a green keeper’s time, using a PGR can help with this, especially throughout the growing season. A PGR that is available for the domestic market is Primo Maxx.
For more lawn care tips and advice, check out our other lawn care blogs here.
