Why do they cut the grass so short?

[djlnc]

It's pretty much like playing off packed dirt. Why do they shave the grass and not let it grow a little?

[kkingston57]

It's pretty much like playing off packed dirt. Why do they shave the grass and not let it grow a little?

Probably grass has not been cut and are packed down, especially De La Vista. All courses have no winter grass on them and get A LOT of play.

[Arctic Fox]

It's pretty much like playing off packed dirt. Why do they shave the grass and not let it grow a little?

I wonder the same about people's lawns.

Cutting too often and too short means that the roots don't have the chance to develop properly (all of the plant's energy goes into the leaves) so at the first sign of frost or drought the lawn turns brown.

[HRDave]

Hybrid improved Bermuda does best when cut short. It spreads laterally and is more aggressive at spreading when cut short. The recent frosts caused the Bermuda to go dormant and its jus now coming out of dormancy. It will be back. Be patient. 😎

[Mrmean58]

It's pretty much like playing off packed dirt. Why do they shave the grass and not let it grow a little?

Conditions are not good for growing grass on the golf courses just like your grass in your front yard. It's cut short to allow for what little sun/heat there is to get to the portion of the grass to warm the root system. That's why the champ courses add pigment to the fairways so the soil/grass will absorb more of the sun's heat.

[bangorvillager]

It is bad when you can go outside The Villages and play better or equal conditions for under $40

[jarodrig]

It's pretty much like playing off packed dirt. Why do they shave the grass and not let it grow a little?

My guess is that the maintenance companies (not all of them) don’t know what they are doing . They probably don’t play golf and just mow away at will .

The maintenance companies are <probably> under contract to mow x number of times a week/month (?) and so they abide by the terms of the contract, whether or not the grass needs mowing. Needlessly running the equipment on the course only makes it worse.

Bottom line is that the guy on the mower who is mowing needlessly really doesn’t give a crap about the course conditions.

All speculation, of course, but you really need to ask yourself, how can Glenview and Lopez be in such great condition compared to the horrible conditions seen at Havana and other championship courses ?

[Jdburns11]

Longer roll/more distance… faster play times perhaps? Much like the rough - purely speculation on my part. Perhaps as others suggest there’s not that much thinking into it however.

[Larchap49]

It's pretty much like playing off packed dirt. Why do they shave the grass and not let it grow a little?

I totally agree when your ball hits on the edge of a green or in the 1st cut and rolls off the 3rd cut or rough should stop the ball within a foot or two. It should not roll 30 feet into the bushes or water. This is just a ridiculous situation on all the village courses. It's made worse because every green in on the top of a hill. This too often leads to lost golf balls that should have come to rest in a playable position.

[Steve]

It is bad when you can go outside The Villages and play better or equal conditions for under $40

Amen, brother.

[ccrider]

I have heard that the grass is mowed close so that there will be less "lost" balls, which speeds up play. And with maybe 25 percent of the people on the golf courses shouldn't be there, it makes a little sense.

[George Page]

What grass?

[Tyson]

Because they're idiot grass cutters not grounds keepers. Here 18 years and its been like this forever. To cheap to hire the right people for the job. If its the day to cut, they cut no matter what.

[Rwirish]

To make it much more difficult to play.

Grass is way too short.

[Dr Winston O Boogie jr]

Conditions are not good for growing grass on the golf courses just like your grass in your front yard. It's cut short to allow for what little sun/heat there is to get to the portion of the grass to warm the root system. That's why the champ courses add pigment to the fairways so the soil/grass will absorb more of the sun's heat.

Sorry, but growing grass on golf courses is nothing like growing grass in your front yard. Talk to a professional golf course superintendent sometime.

[swooner]

Perhaps they don't know what they are doing.

[Lowcap]

Once again I feel I should interject a little wisdom. State wide and most of the Country there is a standard mowing height of 1/2" on tees and fairways. Here in the Villages, due to cart traffic they are told to keep fairways at 3/4". However, even though there mowers are set to this height, they never cut grass because the grass is beat down like concrete floors. The only way to solve this problem is constant aeration and relieving soil compaction. In the Summer its done often. During the Winter its too busy on the courses and you dont want to open holes and expose roots to cold weather. It really is a science. But you could learn alot by asking your local professionals and staying off here. Also, they have to cut regularly to chop op divots, imperfections and weeds. This year pay close attention to density of turf in August as opposed to February. Same mowing height.