Quote:
Originally Posted by Thnonne
P
I don't understand your explanation. "If bermuda is cut short it spreads better," yet they cut it short and the bare spots remain. "If you let it mature it creates a great surface," but if you keep cutting it short can it mature? Please explain.
|
Sure. Maturing means the grass has a chance to develop a deep root system and a dense top growth. The deep root system allows it to survive on less water, and the dense top growth provides the cushioned surface to get down and through the shot. In one of these threads I mentioned a private course in San Diego that was tied to a housing development. They opened the course very soon after it was completed and the bermuda fairways soon were hard pan. They finally had to rope off half of every fairway and lay down inches of new topsoil a bit at a time so the bermuda could grow up through it. When that was complete, they did the same on the other half. But those members had to deal with half fairways for over a year.
Cutting bermuda short promotes the side growth that should fill in bare spots, but the presence of cart traffic every day, seven days a week, hinders that growth. It's a balancing act. Do you close the course for a couple of months to give the fairways a chance (or strictly enforce cart path only which has ramifications for a good number of residents), or do you keep access high by keeping the course open? Answers to that dilemma obviously depend on where you live in TV and where you like to play.