When it comes to golf course maintenance there are a lot of different techniques and theories to get the perfect green.
All of these techniques are dependent on a number of variables: breed of grass, climate, sunlight, soil type and top-dressing chemical structure.
Research has shown one technique that can help with some of these variables and give golfers the healthiest of greens.
Over the years, courses have been told that rolling their greens will promote healthier grass. Others have said that brushing greens was the correct way to distribute top-dressing.
After a research study performed by Dr John C. Sorochan and his students at the University of Tennessee, Institute of Agriculture, they found that both provided improvements over doing nothing.
The research showed that rolling your green with a vibrating roller showed less distribution of the top-dressing than brushing.
“However, when used in conjunction with brushing, vibratory rolling appears to aid in increasing surface firmness and incorporating top-dressing sand into the turf canopy, where it can aid in thatch dilution (Kauffman and Sorochan, page 2).”
True-Surface by Turfline – an Associate Business Member of the Asian Golf Industry Federation – has equipment lines that are formulated in promoting the truest putting greens.
Their innovative Flex-Brush is class leading with functionality and design. This particular brush features three independent floating heads that each can accommodate up to five brush bristles.
With four different bristle styles and five different downforce settings, brushing options are plentiful. It shows extreme versatility by allowing the user to pair the brush with the True-Surface Greens Care Collection, True-Surface Vibe V, and the triplex cutting reels.
The True-Surface Flex Brush was designed to be multi-functional on the golf course. Some of these functions include, but are not limited to:
Removing morning dew
Brushing top-dressing into canopy
Removal of debris
Standing the blades of grass up before cutting.
For a fast transition, the brush also features a quick disconnect so it can be removed from the mower and stored when not in use.
When the Flex brush is combined with the patented vibrations of the True-Surface Vibe V the results ‘become unparalleled’.
The True-Surface Vibratory Greens Rollers offer an alternative to standard dispersion practices.
True-Surface’s unique method of vibration actually energises the turf by sending light vibrations through the greens, allowing them to vibrate the sand into the turf canopy and ensure deeper penetration into the root zone. By incorporating more top-dressing sand into the canopy, the greens have less organic matter build-up in the putting surface, which results in healthier greens and greater green speeds.
These products and techniques translate into savings for the golf course, says True-Surface.
The accompanying chart showcases the significant amount of top-dressing that isn’t recollected by the cutting reels. Dr Sorochan’s study shows that after brushing and vibrating the greens, less than 3% of the light top-dressing was removed while mowing.
Getting the top-dressing sand deeper into the canopy equals less dulling of the cutting reels, thus saving maintenance time on top of the savings of wasted top-dressing.
Brushing before mowing allows the grass blade to stand up, resulting in a shorter cut to reduce the amount of cuts needed. All of these areas combined equals more dollars for the course and less dollar spot for the greens.