Are greenkeepers aware of World Handicap System rules and what causes a hole to be crowned?
This is your chance to ask the experts and get the greenkeeping information you really want in our Greenkeeper’s Question Time.
Answering your queries is Scott Reeves, veteran course manager and BIGGA’s Membership Director.…
What causes crowned golf holes?
Scott says: The implication is that greenkeepers aren’t changing holes properly. I’ve heard this loads of times, ‘I’ve missed a putt, and it’s your fault because the hole is crowned’. It’s generally nonsense.
But if you think about how we pick a ball out of the golf hole, you generally put your foot somewhere near it, then you lean forward and you pick the ball out.
What happens is you’re putting pressure on the turf diagonally and that can, if the green is soft, lead to it being pushed in a direction towards the hole.
Now I think it’s a leading question and I don’t think it’s as common as people make out. But what causes a hole to crown? Golfers.
Are greenkeepers aware of World Handicap System regulations regarding tee placements – such as the 10-yard and 100-yard rules?
Scott says: Greenkeepers are aware of them because most work closely with competition secretaries to make sure the distance is not more than 100 yards. I think it also used to be no more than 10 yards for any one hole.
We are critically aware of it. It is difficult because, for example if you take par-3 tees, you’ve got a small area in which a divot can be taken every single time someone hits a shot.
To be able to maintain and recover divots and rotate tees around a small area is really difficult. The recovery time for a divot is a couple of weeks, if you’re lucky with perfect growing conditions.
If you’ve only got a very small area, working from a fixed point with the markers, it can be extremely difficult to keep everything within regulations. But greenkeepers are trained in these things. This is something that is taught.
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What’s the hardest part of keeping greens consistent?
Scott says: The hardest part is what is outside your control. There are lots of things you can control to achieve consistency – quality of cut, feed regimes, use of growth regulators, moisture management – but the hardest part is what you can’t control, and that is basically the weather.
If you have a very cold spring, or a very dry spring, and you’ve got indifferent growth, or variable growth in different species, that’s outside your control and means it’s much harder to manage consistency.
This article appears in Your Course, the twice-yearly publication from the British and International Golf Greenkeepers Association. Your Course invites golfers to gain a deeper appreciation of what preparing and maintaining a golf course really involves. Head to www.bigga.org.uk to find out more.
Have a question for a greenkeeper?
What do you think of this answer on crowned golf holes and WHS knowledge? It’s your course – want to send a question in about it? Email info@bigga.org.uk and we’ll put it to one of our experts.
