Minnesota Golfer - Spring 2019 - 17

FIXING
The sand in the strewn divots was wearing
on mower reels.
So, this past season, Mankato went
back to fi lling the bottles with a mix that
includes some peat for moisture retention,
malorganite (natural fertilizer) and
two kinds of seed. Taylor still recommends
replacing a divot under the right conditions,
but seed and soil is the club's primary
method.
" Everybody's back to doing what they
did a long time ago, " Taylor says. " We
occasionally see some of those deep divots
not replaced like they should be, but
at least we are getting some of the divots
fi lled with deep soil, and the members are
happy because they can participate in the
upkeep of the course. "
At Giants Ridge, however, putting seed
in the bottles didn't work. There was no
good way to determine on a public course
which bottles had fresh seed and which
were fi lled with germinating bentgrass
seeds, rendering them useless.
" Every weekend, every golf cart goes out
of the barn, " Kendall says. " Then you play
the game of 'who exactly is using sand, and
who isn't?' So, if we are fi lling all of those
bottles up, say, three times over the course
of a weekend, it becomes a challenge.
There is no effective way for us to look at a
bottle and know when it was refi lled. "
For Taylor, the challenge was quite different.
" We
have four stations where they
can refi ll the bottles, " Taylor says. " And if
those stations are empty, I will get a call.
It is wonderful that people are taking that
much ownership of the course. "
There is some consensus among most
courses, however: replace and tamp down
THE
F
A IR W
Mankato fills bottles with a
mix that includes some peat for
moisture retention, malorganite
and two kinds of seed.
A YS
PRACTICE TEE ETIQUETTE
According to an article recently
republished by the USGA
( " Practice Like A Pro " by Ty
McClellan), the average golfer
removes more than 4 square
feet of turf after just 30 shots
on the practice tee. Over the
course of an entire season for a
1.25-acre practice tee, 4.6 acres
of turf will have been fl ung
in the air as divots, McClellan
calculates.
It's no wonder, then, that
during the dog days of summer
many practice tees look like
they harvest divots rather than
healthy turf.
Effi cient tee station rotation
" Courses use a mix of the
options. It is dependent
upon the type of grass
and what works best for
each facility. "
large divots in wet and good growing conditions;
fi ll in with sand and level it off where provided;
replace an exploded divot or shallow scar with
the remaining material and then fi ll in with the
seed and soil mix. Take part in the process.
Ultimately, each club must do what works
for them. It's up to us golfers to determine what
that is and follow along. We are the benefi ciaries
of this extra little effort, after all. MG
along with the judicial use of
synthetic turf can help practice
tees recover during the growing
season, he writes.
Yet it's the golfer who can
make a lasting impact on turf
removal and recovery simply
by practicing more effi ciently.
McClellan has the solution: Take
linear divots like the pros do
(see illustration).
The linear pattern removes
far less turf per shot than
randomly scattered divots.
According to McClellan's math,
taking a linear divot removes
one-third less turf per shot
than gauging a new one. If
every golfer adopted the linear
method over the course of a
season, it would reduce turf
loss by 65 percent, he concludes.
McClellan
points out other
important benefi ts of linear
divots: The healthy turf strips
between the linear divots help
protect seedlings from desiccation
and mower injury, and lead
to more rapid grow in.
Taking linear divots may not
make you a scratch golfer, but it
will make you a better custodian
of the practice tee. To read
the full article, check out the
USGA's Green Section Record at
usga.org. -W.P. Ryan
mngolf.org
Spring 2019 MINNESOTAGOLFER
17
http://www.usga.org http://www.mngolf.org
Minnesota Golfer - Spring 2019

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