Slow greens
 

Played Belgrade and Havana last week. Good looking but very slow. Maybe a 5. Can't Bermuda run quicker?

The greens certainly can be made quicker. But, keeping the grass longer especially in the heat, keeps them fuller and lusher. The trade off is speed.

This is true, if they cut them too short, you'll have browns instead of greens, and will probably lose a few as well. The other reason for them to be on the slow side is pace of play. We've all seen groups that should pay a rent surcharge for the amount of time they spend on the greens. If they were lightening fast, you'd need a calendar to time those groups. Remember Ernie Els 7 putting #1 at Augusta?---a foursome taking 30 putts per green takes a lot longer than taking 8 putts.

Do they own a roller?

Just y'all be glad you aren't playin' in Scotland.

My good golfer in the family tells me that you play THAT course THAT day with THAT foursome and you play with your skill level and your character, and your level of patience, and your recovery skills and your neuronal and muscular ability or lack thereof..

I understand the slow play. I just think that the grass that is used is supposed to be able to take the heat. not asking for 12 or 13. Just 7 or 8.

Running at 5 on the stemp would be like putting on shag carpet. I am certain they are faster than that.

It is Belle Glade and there is no pee in Lake Sumter.

Yes. I saw one on the back of a maintenance vehicle a couple of days ago. Not on a green, tho. With all the trouble they have had with greens overall, I wonder if they are letting them get a little long until they are confident the problems are resolved. My recollection is that they are best just in time for overseeding in the fall. Then we're back to slower greens with the overseed. :undecided:

Gator pee?

What would they do with a roller? Any decent superintendent certainly would use on on greens.

I've played nine different executive course so far. The greens have ranged from slow to medium. Bogart were the slowest I played and Silver Lake and Hilltop are among the fastest. My Stimpmeter is back up north, unless my kids have sold it so I can't tell you what the speeds are, but I don't think that any of them are at 5 feet.

Although I prefer greens on the faster side, I don't care if they're fast or slow. What bothers me is that most of the Execs don't have a practice putting green so that you can get an idea of the speed before you play. I had about a 12 foot birdie putt on the first hole of Bogart when I played that and left is five feet short. I had played another course the day before and the green were much faster.

The problem that I see with most of the greens north of 466 is that they are simply not maintained properly. With the exception of Oakleigh, all of the greens up north have had huge spots of dead grass.

On one course someone had put down a large amount of the green divot sand on the bad areas. I can't see that helping. It's unfortunate but, IMHO, because of this lack of proper maintenance many of these green will have to be completely replaced. It's currently being done on several courses but it should never have been allowed to come to this.

The main practice green at Bogart/Bacall is finally showing some signs of coming back, but it's been a long, slow process. The upper practice green has looked for a long time like it was abandoned, but now looks like it has had some attention.

The green sand is "supposed" to enhance bermuda growth by absorbing the sun's heat better than white sand. I agree it doesn't seem like it makes much difference.

Did you notice the horrible condition of the back of the 5th green on Bogart? Looks like they have put in some grass plugs to aid recovery, but I don't understand why they didn't just re-sod the entire area.