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Golf course superintendents have been developing long term range plans to make continuous improvements to their golf courses for their membership and or for the general public. An aspect of the course that superintendents often want to improve is the greens. They want to make sure that greens are healthy and playable to tip top conditions. Many courses are finding some of their greens aren’t growing due to reduced sunlight, are too small or even having poor drainage. A course that has completed a greens renovation in the past few years is Mississauga Golf & Country Club.
A greens renovation is a lengthy process that requires specific planning, permitting and money. When changing your greens courses tend to want to put in XGD systems or even have them built to USGA specifications. Mississauga Golf & Country Club started their project in August of 2007 and it was initiated by Doug Carrick as the architect as well as a whole project committee. The major problem was that their greens were receiving a lack of sunlight, as well as the greens were really small. So part of their renovation was to remove some of the trees around greens and prune up others to provide more sunlight. Also by the completion of the project they increased their greens from 80,000ft2 to 105,000ft2.
It’s not a whole course renovation but a greens renovation is great step in the right direction to improve the courses overall condition. This past fall I had the opportunity to learn about USGA specification for greens as well as see some greens being constructed. I saw the greens construction at Lambton Golf & Country Club which was a whole course renovation but they were building their greens to USGA specifications. A renovation project of any type is a long and lengthy process that requires specific planning that I look forward to having the opportunity to experience in the future.
Publications Used:
Brewster, Bob. 2008. GreenMaster. August. 43(4): p. 6-9.- Going for the Greens
http://archive.lib.msu.edu/tic/grnma/article/2008aug6.pdf
McPherson, David. 2009. Golf Course Management. February. 77(2): p. 80, 82, 84, 86.- Taking the Long Road
http://archive.lib.msu.edu/tic/gcman/article/2009feb80.pdf
Green at Lambton Golf & Country Club
