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Originally Posted by Mikeod
The reason they do that periodically is just what you were told. When mowing a green the mower crosses the green edge to edge. If they run around the edge as you desire every time they mow, the edge of the green is subjected to the weight of the mower twice as much and eventually the grass suffers. So, they omit that last circuit around the edge on occasion.
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I'll have to respectfully disagree.
Most of the time the issues with the dead grass near the collars, are because the person doing the mowing...is turning too quickly near the green. That's a 'training' issue.
Sometimes this is because of bunkers right next to the green...but often it isn't.
Keep in mind, even when the blades are up and not cutting the mower is still putting "pressure" on the green near the collar. One more pass (as long as the mower is going completely off of the green to make their turns)...isn't that big of a deal.
Here's a good article that explains the various issues (and some potential solutions)...for the problem.
Ring around the collar - Golf Course Industry
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Muirfield Village Golf Club - By design, the bunkers at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio are very close to the putting surfaces. This is done for both strategy and difficulty. Because of this, there is not a lot of room to maneuver a push mower and make turns, thus causing significant damage to the greens.
Four Stream Golf Club - “The collar region around a green is the area that receives the most traffic on any golf course,” says Harshberger. “Also this is one part of the golf course where, if it’s not close to perfect, it can affect playability.”
“I think other courses have run into collar damage that has been self made but blame it on other factors,” he says. “And this may only be a problem in areas that experience intense summer heat and stress. If it’s not hot, the sand should not create much of a problem. But when it gets hot the sand is very abrasive on the leaf blades and helps create more unwanted stress on the plants.”
What Four Stream found to work best with preventing collar damage was mowing higher. Ever since they have increased the height of the mowers when going around the collars, they have looked great. They also keep any triplexes away from the greens so they have their collar/approach mower mow six passes around each green. This keeps the larger mowers away from the collars.
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