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MORE MANUAL INFORMATION- Geoffrey S. Cornish, Golf Course Architect
FAQ SECTIONQuestion: I've purchased Bermuda Sod for my green. how do I establish it? Check out this article on how to get your sodded green going: Tiftgreen Maintenance Information Question: How much does it cost to build a putting green? Estimates for Putting Green Construction on a real golf course can go upwards of $60,000 for one green. Fortunately, a backyard green doesn't have to be as elaborate or large. The Green requires a base layer (for shape), a drainage layer of crushed stone and PVC pipe, a sand layer, and then the root zone layer made up of 12" of mostly cheap sand and peat. You shouldn't have to spend more than a few hundred dollars to build a good size (1000 sf) bent grass putting green with delivered materials. Other considerations are a sprinkler system, bunkers and the surrounding area. If you sod the green, you must add in the cost of the sod which is more expensive. Question: How much work is it to take care of a green? The work involved in maintaining a green is not trivial, and not for someone who wants to cut his grass only once a week. But most of the work involved is preventative maintenance and viligance over the conditions of the turf. Since you have a relatively small green and only one (compared to golf courses), your actual physical maintenance time involved should be reasonable. Cutting should only take a few minutes every 2-3 days or whenever you want to play on the green. Other activities include Fertilization, Aeration, Top-Dressing, Herbicides, Fungicides and Pesticides. Here, to give you an idea of the time involved ... is my schedule for maintenance. Your requirements may differ from mine, and it is important to know that many others have failed building putting greens because they didn't have the patience, time and knowledge necessary to have success. But many of these builders lacked the kind of information that is contained in the Manual that I sell on Putting Green Maintenance. It covers all of the details of these very important and necessary maintenance techniques.
Here is another recounting from one of our fellow backyard greenskeepers:
there you have it - 36.5 mins once you add in the sit-on-bench-and-drink-a-beer factor, make it an even hour. Question: What type of grass will I use? The two dominant types of turf used for Putting Green Construction throughout the world are Creeping BentGrass and Bermuda. Bent Grass is dominant wherever temperatures are moderate to cool, and Bermuda is the preferred turf type in tropical climates. In the United States, Bent is used on 79% of the greens and Bermuda on 21%. Here is a chart of turf types used for Putting Greens from a survey of over 16,000 courses conducted by the GCSAA.
* Hawaii is 100% Bermuda ** All other states are 100% Bent Grass A special word to all you Golf Crazy Texans out there; your climate is perhaps the hardest to give you advise on turf type. I am told that most courses in Texas have abandoned Bent for the more heat tolerant Bermuda. But if you see the chart above, the state is still 50/50. My understanding is that Bermuda is preferred in Southeast Texas and Bent is used mostly in Northwest Texas and by some of the top resort/PGA courses. The courses that have switched to Bermuda have done so because of the difficulty keeping Bent moist when it is not drought tolerant at all. If you want to plant a small Bent grass green, you may still be able to keep it in great shape because the watering and care is small in comparison to that of a course with 18 tee boxes and greens that can be 20Ksf. It is a hard decision because Bermuda will be harder to get and is generally only available to you in SOD and/or Plugs which will be more expensive than Bent Grass seed. I suggest that you consult with several qualified greenskeepers in your area for an understanding of what is required in your special climate. My Manual on Putting Green construction covers the basics of cultivating and maintaining BentGrass. This is the type of turf we have where I live (New England), and it is easy to grow and most likely to give the back yard greenskeeper good results. If your climate is tropical, you may be forced to use Bermuda in which case you must buy SOD which makes the project more expensive. My manual will not help you with the grow-in stages of Bermuda, but the core techniques used in the maintenance section apply to Bermuda as well as Bent. There is a great chart of climatic zones for putting green turf on the Jacklin Golf Web Site http://www.jacklingolf.com . Here you can see charts of climate requirements throughout the world. They are also a good source of golf course products.  Question: Do I need a special type of lawn mower? You cannot maintain a putting green surface with a standard rotary mower. Putting Greens must be cut and rolled at a height around 3/16", using a reel type blade that "pinches" the grass off, rather than chopping it sideways as a rotary mower does. To have a green, you must purchase a high-quality reel type "greens quality" mower. This is no small investment, but if properly maintained, this type of mower should last for years. There are push, gas and electric mowers available and recently, push units have become available for under $300. See the Gear Page for more information about mowers and vendors. Question: Will I spend too much time greenskeeping instead of playing? NO .... for the right person, this can be a great hobby that will give you hours of backyard family fun, neighborhood golf competitions, and practice time that you just can't get anywhere. You should see your short game improve dramatically. The maintenance time that you spend will be well worth the effort, and should be enjoyable to you. If you like to take care of your yard, gardens, or enjoy landscaping ... then the care of the green will be fun, challenging, and rewarding with a beautiful addition to your backyard landscape. If you are a heavy golfer, one who would rather be at the club all day playing matches ... then you should reconsider. The ideal backyard golfer: retired people, working men/women with families, teenagers getting into golf. Instead of wishing you were out golfing, may nights you will want to rush home from work so that you can play with your kids on the golf green. It is a good substitute for really golfing. For a differing opinion check out this article by Jim Morris, published on the Ampac Seed Web Site with Permission from Turf Magazine. Question: What is better a real bentgrass green or a synthetic? Recent innovations in technology have brought synthetic greens to the home golf market. Now, you can have a green of any shape, size or configuration build for you, indoors, outdoors, on patios, decks etc. These greens require no maintenance and are installed by professionals. You can find several excellent vendors on the internet. Try this link to Putting Green Vendors on Yahoo. Anyway, I thought that I would give you my opinion on the advantages and disadvantages of each. These are purely my opinion.
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leomelanson@verizon.net
6 Pheasant Run Drive
Newburyport, MA 01950
Questions: (978) 465-9345
