DO
YOU HAVE GREEN CREEP?
By
Ronald W. Fream
Golf
courses experience evolution, alteration, maturation and aging just as all other
living things do. Having the
benefit of almost 35 years as a golf architect and observing some courses for 25
years or longer, it is quite easy to notice the incremental, and at times,
profound changes that time induces.
The
alterations I refer to are natural and evolutionary.
Golf course maintenance crews cause and enhance alteration.
Technology advances have accelerated change. Plant physiology, human
genetics, nutrition, television and golf publications have expedited the demand
or need for alteration. The focus
of this article is on those alterations that are more or less naturally
occurring as distinguished from greens committee action or periodic remodeling
for design sake.
Green
creep is a catchall phrase I use to describe the inevitable alterations which
emerge on every course. The rate of
emergence, the frequency and the extent are variable in response to the type of
course, location, climate, turfgrass varieties, soil conditions, original design
and construction methods, intensity of and quality of maintenance, volume of
play and financial strength of the owner or operator of the golf course.
Alterations can occur faster with tropical and warm weather grasses than with
cool season or northern climate grasses.
Green
creep begins to emerge as maintenance commences on a new course. However, it
increases in prominence the older the course is. Green creep is part of the
aging process of almost every course, everywhere.
There really is no easy way to avoid some component of green creep. That green creep is so prevalent and yet so unnoticed is due
to the almost glacial rate of occurrence.
At
its most basic, green creep is altered shapes and sizes of putting surfaces, the
repositioning of bunker edges and altered tee surfaces due to insidious, little
by little, mowing changes and sand edging practices.
These changes can become several to many feet of distance over time.
Maintenance
personnel keep their jobs by not killing the grass.
As the person mowing the putting surfaces does the job, each day a little
uncut collar is left to prevent scalping. The
person mowing tends to cut inside yesterday’s cut.
Concurrently, straighter lines or more rounded lines of cut emerge over
time. The putting green surface
becomes smaller in overall surface and rounder or oval, more uniform and less
visually appealing in shape.
Bunker edging often does not cut back all of the growth that has occurred since the bunker edge was last trimmed. The person doing the edging often overlooks the original outline shape. The grass remaining has grown more on to the sand than before. Continued edging over time tends to cut off or ignore originally designed undulations or irregular outlined shapes. The sand surface area becomes less. What were visible sand surfaces from the tee now are grass.
What
had been a visible bunker in the fairway is now a slightly visible sand
depression or appears from the players view to be only grass.
The aesthetic and strategic reason for the bunker has been lost.
Now the sand is blind to the player and has become an unfair hazard.
What was visually a nicely outlined bunker, now, 10 years on, is another
round saucer-like bunker or a square or rectangular one.
Excessive adding of sand over time tends to flatten and make shallower
what originally was a meaningful sand hazard.
Siltation has clogged the drainage system and the bunker is a pond when
it rains. In some environments, the
action of blowing wind can cause sand to accumulate at one prevailing edge or
side of the bunker. Sand
accumulates and the grass continues to grow.
Now that portion is substantially higher than before.
A mound or ridge now obscures what was once visible sand.
This same result occurs from the use of mechanized sand trap raking
machines that enter and depart a bunker at the same point repeatedly.
As
the green surfaces become smaller and rounder, day by day and year by year, the
area for pin placement is reduced. The
spatial distance relationship between pin position and adjacent sand bunker is
expanded. The golfers visibility of the sand basin often is reduced.
Topdressing of greens as a normal process of maintenance, will over time
smooth out a green surface, remove some original contour and perhaps not make it
easier for most golfers, but make the putting surface flatter, less contoured.
Progressively
smaller greens, greater distance between pin and sand, less before shot
awareness of bunker locations, all contribute to substantially different playing
conditions than the original design possessed.
Changing putting surface shapes do alter what were originally designed-in
approach play strategic factors, often lessening the challenge and diversity.
Smaller greensites that are more flat and round begin to all look the
same. Reductions of 25 percent or
more in pinable green surface is common after 10 or 15 years.
Smaller
putting surfaces reduce pin placement options. The original variety in pin
placement variation now has become lost. Smaller putting surfaces concentrate
golfer wear and tear, increase seedbed compaction, turf wear and tear and turf
varietal differentiation even as play increases.
Deteriorating putting surfaces are the result. Increased maintenance costs are a result.
Missed putts are also a result.
Similar
slow motion changes occur on teeing surfaces.
Day by day mowing can change the shape, reduce the usable surface, alter
the outline edge and adversely impact play and wear and tear.
Often smaller teeing surface area is a result. Incorrect or inattentive divot repair and inadequate or
incorrect tee surface topdressing will over time turn a flat, comfortable
surface into one more crowned, bumpy, or with surface sloping in several
directions. Traffic induced compaction problems increase. Turf quality often
deteriorates. Any of these creeping
changes can alter how the player addresses the ball.
Inattentive mowing can lead to tee surface alignments not focused on the
center of the fairway or par 3 greensite. The
person setting the tee blocks often then does not orient the markers correctly
and perpendicular to the desired line of play.
Inattentive golfers often line up their shot on this incorrect
orientation hitting inaccurate shots, wasting time, and raising scores.
Miss-hit shots result at no fault of the golfer.
Changes
such as these are incremental and very slow.
Ten to 15 years after opening is a good time to really begin to see the
difference. However, some green and bunker shape changes can often be noted by
year 5. When visiting older courses, the extent of change can be remarkable.
These changes are so glacial that to the Green Committee, general manager
or superintendent, the changes may
not even be apparent. The players
hardly notice, unless turf deterioration becomes obvious.
Many players will never even think of what might have been.
They play in the here and now.
A
new superintendent, a new pro or general manager taking over 10 or 20 years
after opening, or a first time player, seldom will even be aware of what might
have been the original design intent. The golf architect’s name may have been
lost. The original design drawings often have been lost or discarded.
Unfortunately, these creeping changes tend to soften the course and will remove
much of the original playing strategy. This often also turns what may have been
visually interesting and exciting design into round, common and boring.
The fame or talent of the original architect does nothing to prevent
these changes. U.S.G.A. greens
seedbed mixtures do not prevent green creep.
A certified superintendent is not immune.
The course now can be greatly different from that on opening day long
ago.
Tree
growth also creeps upon a course. Too
often, superintendents budget little for annual tree care, particularly proper
pruning. Players seldom notice the
annual growth of a tree, yet overplanting of new courses in originally open
areas, and too gentle a clearing on wooded sites, leave ample tree growth over
time. Ongoing general thinning and
reshaping of trees is lacking so excessive growth results.
Creeping tree expansion directly influences golf shots on the same hole
differently over time if left untouched. Fairways become narrower. The strategy
of play around a tree can be significantly altered.
More shots are in the rough. Play
is slowed. Other
problems related to turfgrass maintenance also arise from encroaching shade and
surface roots as the trees age.
Two
of the most profound changes that have creeped rapidly in the past 10 years have
been the explosion of new technology and enhanced physical well-being.
An increasing number of senior players also are an evolutionary result.
Innovations
in golf club heads, shafts and grips, new shaft materials, significantly altered
golf ball designs, have in effect shortened many courses.
Tiger
Woods is not the only taller, leaner, more flexible golfer out there.
Put better equipment in any player’s hand and the ball will go farther,
if not straighter.
Improved
tee shot length has greatly affected play.
Twenty-five years ago, fairway bunkers set in the 220 to 250 yard area
had impact upon the better players and even the pros.
No longer is this the case. Today
fairway bunkers 260 yards off the back tee do not intimidate the better players.
Club players or the daily fee golfer expects to drive 230 or 250 yards
and often that range is beyond the fairway bunker.
Women hitting farther can almost reach the fairway bunkers when those
bunkers were not originally positioned for that purpose. Green creep and bunker
creep shift targets and modify bunker positions.
Bunker creep alone, when extensive, can move the sand basin 10 or 20 or
even 30 feet over time. Ten yards
shorter or longer can incorrectly impact a shot.
While smaller putting surfaces may in some ways compensate against longer
tee shots, these size reductions are not design or play strategy driven. Therefore, the changes do not contribute to the benefit of
the game.
Improved
tee shot length also impacts tee positions.
Many courses do not have much extra room to add longer back tees.
Lengthening a hole by 20 or 30 yards is not often possible.
Repositioning of middle and forward tees may be one partial remedy to
counteract increased hitting lengths. Increasing
the number of teeing positions and playing lengths from only 2 or 3 to 4 or 5,
is often necessary to fully accommodate today’s wider range of players,
playing lengths and ages of players. Increased volumes of play over time
increase wear and tear, as well necessitating larger tee surfaces.
Increasing tee surface size can provide more playing diversity and ease
tee top maintenance demands.
An
alert superintendent can regularly overcut the green or tee edge apron by a few
inches. A yellowish discoloration will be visible for a few days. However, this
repositioning of the putting or teeing surface can help retain the original
outline shape and surface area.
Fairway
mowing patterns and fairway outline shapes often have creeped over time.
New machinery at least can provide visually attractive patterns even if
the width or outline shape of the fairway has changed over the years. Fairways
often become narrower. Maintained or semi-maintained rough closer to the
preferred lie. Rough areas tend to creep inward as well, partially due to
inadequate maintenance staff. Recontouring and expanding fairway and maintained
rough areas can help compensate for increased tree growth and more senior
players. Longer hitters often will benefit from expanded fairway widths since
length and accuracy are not synonymous and speed of play is always a factor.
Increasing the depth and area of rough may have a place at some courses.
However, increasing the area of semi-rough or more or less maintained rough only
toughens any course. In today’s economy, most courses seek rapid play as an
economic necessity. Deep and thick roughs are counter productive.
Introducing new mowing patterns can add eye appeal and make even flat
fairways look better.
Evolution
alters the turfgrass too. As long
as it is green suits some, however, what was originally a lush homogeneous blend
or single variety has become infested with Poa annua, weedy broadleaf species,
common Bermudagrass or worse in fairways and maintained roughs as well as
putting surfaces and tee tops. Seedbed
improvements and replanting may be the remedy. The introduction of newer
turfgrass varieties by overseeding will help improve playing conditions and
appearance.
Bunker
creep and technology have overtaken the irrigation system too.
A new more versatile and efficient pumping plant may be necessary.
Upgrading the irrigation system controls to computer operation may save
labor, improve turf quality and help conserve water and electricity. Reshaping
of greensites, or repositioning of fairway bunkers can also require sprinkler
head replacement, repositioning or the addition of heads to assure uniform
coverage. Recent improvements in sprinkler head operation, water distribution
and water efficiency may encourage sprinkler head replacement.
Adapting to the use of sewage effluent irrigation water may be a
necessity of the times in some areas. Adding additional irrigation water storage
lakes may be desirable and can be an aesthetic and strategic enhancement as
well.
Green
creep also impacts water storage lakes and ornamental lakes, ponds and streams.
Water vegetation can expand in number and begin filling the lake. Grass from the
edges can grown into the water over time reducing surface area. Excessive algae
growth can clog a pond or lake over a few years with unrestrained growth. Uncontrolled lake edge waterweed growth can obscure
ornamental walls. Irrigation
storage capacity or flood control capacity may be reduced.
Time
and increasing golfer traffic adversely change soil structures.
Fairways once mostly dry can evolve into at first small muddy spots.
As rainfall and pedestrian, cart and maintenance traffic continue, the
compacted and wet or muddy and degraded areas can migrate and spread like a
cancer. Turf deterioration follows. Adding
subsurface drainage or even sand capping fairways may be necessary to expand
playing opportunities during wet weather. Putting
surfaces can become wet sponges or brick-hard when the seedbed has deteriorated
due to compaction. Tee tops
are one of the first areas to demonstrate the impact of compaction on turfgrass
quality.
The
addition of golf cart pathways or the extension of existing paths often becomes
necessary as the volume of play increases. Replacing fairway cart traffic onto
cart paths will help combat fairway compaction and seedbed deterioration. Adding
expanded “lay-by” cart parking positions can ease congestion near greens and
tees. Adding curbing can help
control wayward drivers. Repositioning
some cart paths can improve utilization and even help speed up play. Converting from gravel or dirt to concrete or asphalt will
help improve maintenance and enhance the visual elements. Cart traffic always will cause compaction when not on a path.
Few
old and older courses are today as they were when they first opened.
Noted examples, such as Augusta National, Pine Valley and Pebble Beach,
bear little resemblance to their early years of operation, even though current
owners or members believe they are holders of the original design or original
product. Some changes are committee
induced, not green creep, however, and still result in substantial alteration
from the original design.
Green
creep makes courses more homogeneous, more similar in visual and playing
appearance and certainly decreases the playing challenge of the original design.
Few professional golf architects of the last half of the 20th
century would have designed every green round, every fairway flat and every
bunker in the image of a peanut.
“When
I am doing bunker and green creep corrections, I feel just like a plastic
surgeon. I am doing nip and tuck, wrinkle removal, a little middle-age facelift
and enhancement, a few hair grafts. Pouty lips on a bunker are preferable to
thin ones. Our work also involves some liposuction, taking the excess
accumulated fat out of a mature golf course,” comments Fream.
Correcting
green creep really becomes a remodeling and modernization program, even if some
effort is devoted to recapturing a long lost glory.
Modern volumes of play, enhanced expectations for turfgrass quality, a
focus on visual dynamics and who has the toughest course will influence some
remodeling efforts. Remodeling to a budget, to meet user market green fees or
membership capability is certainly feasible.
Revitalizing an older course to join today’s standards and meet
today’s expectations while accommodating more play is attainable and can occur
in an affordable way. Often corrections can involve only mowing pattern changes
or bunker edge re-cutting. A comprehensive master plan should guide more
involved elaborate directives. The master plan for a hole or a course should be
precise and comprehensive. Accurate working drawings should be utilized. Not
only golf design, but also ornamental horticulture and turfgrass agronomics are
part of the solution. The
corrective effort can occur over an extended period of time, be sequential or
priority phased or occur quite quickly over an entire course.
Bunker edge corrective changes can occur quickly and have clear obvious
and beneficial result.
To
do nothing, and continue with the status quo, is a continuing downward slide.
From a competitive viewpoint, the slowly deteriorating course that does
nothing in response certainly loses market share to newer courses in the area.
Golfers today are highly attuned to the visually dynamic style of golf.
Countering years of evolutionary change will have direct and positive
economic benefit. To see the
problem, to understand there is a problem, is not for everyone to do.
Being too close, being there too long, being too new to the situation and
not being attuned to the action shields the viewer from the knowledge of what
had been and often also what can be. An impartial, experienced eye brings great
value.
Much
of this article’s focus is on easy to implement, relatively inexpensive
actions to reclaim what once was there. This
must not be confused with the more extensive makeover or upgrade and
repositioning that can be very elaborate, involved, costly and very beneficial.
An assessment of existing playing conditions, the members’ desires, analysis
of current market competition, user demographics, operational goals, economics,
agronomics, local competition and other factors become part of any renovation or
modernization program. The
restoration or modernization program must be carefully planned and correctly
implemented. The results can be spectacular, the cost of implementation
need not be excessive. Green creep
is here to stay and we must deal with it, sooner or later.
END
Post
Office Box 1823
Santa Rosa, California 95402
Telephone: 1-707-526-7190 - Fax: 1-707-576-1823
E-Mail: golfplan@golfplan.com
Ronald
Fream is the most diversely experienced golf architect in the business. Since
1966,
he has been involved with planning, design, construction and
maintenance
of golf courses in about 60 countries.