Collar width adjustment

We are constantly striving to provide quality playing surfaces throughout the course. While the rough around the greens is not supposed to be as pure and easy to play from as the fairway or collar height turf, it should still be a consistent surface. In an effort to continue in that direction, this year we will be making the width of the collar smaller.

In the next few weeks you will see paint marks denoting a new line for our mowers to follow when mowing the collars. We have a specific mower used solely for collars that has a 26” cutting width. We will be making the collars one pass with this mower. The old, extra collar that remains outside this one pass will be allowed to grow to rough height. Because the collar turf is healthy and performs well, as it is allowed to grow taller it will turn into healthy rough. This is a big step in helping to alleviate some of the bare patches of rough that surround the greens. Now, we will be taking advantage of the quality of collar turf and making it serve a different purpose for us.

A second, nearly as important aspect of this transition will be time saved. At Bretton Woods there are many tasks to be accomplished, between golf course maintenance and overall grounds maintenance. If we can save time in one area, it allows for another job to be completed. In the past, the collars were at least 2 passes around with the mower, sometimes a third partial pass was needed in some areas due to inconsistent widths. By taking away the extra passes we can now shave time off the entire job. For example, if we save 1 minute per green, that is 20 minutes across the entire course. With 20 extra minutes in our pocket we can get started into the next task that much sooner. This will be an indirect benefit to the golfers also.

For a while, this change may seem insignificant. It will take some time for the final result to be exactly as we would like. However, once the extra collar begins to mature into rough, the playability around the greens will improve for golfers. The time saved for the Grounds department will be more immediate and important. Once a routine is established, both Grounds and golfers will be pleased.

See you on the course!

Joe

jvillegas@bwrc.org