We typically mow greens 7 days a week, but this year we are skipping a mowing once a week in place of a roll. In an attempt to reduce stress (yes mowing is in fact a stress and physiologically detrimental to the grass plant) we will roll greens instead of mowing to give our greens a little bit of a break from the daily grind (pun intended). Research has shown that rolling greens instead of a mowing, can maintain green speeds for that "Off" day when greens are not mowed. This is provided that greens are rolled consistently in conjunction with a mowing for the remainder of the week. We can realize significant savings in manpower, fuel, and most importantly turf health by giving our greens a day off. Most of us have at least one day off a week, shouldn't our greens get the same break? When we have numbers, we hand cut our greens with Toro 1000's, and when we are short staffed, a riding "triplex" Toro 3150 does the trick just fine. Many say that a riding greens mower cannot provide the precision cut of a walk mower, and while we would prefer to walk mow every day, in the shoulder season the triplex is far more efficient and frees up bodies to complete other tasks.
We mow TCA (read: Tees, Collars, and Approaches) 3 times per week as long as growth dictates we must. We us a triplex mower similar to that used for greens set at 1/4", only our TCA mowers have 3 wheel drive, allowing them to maneuver through some of our steep banks without some much as a slip.
Fairways are treated much the same as TCA, on an "as needed" basis, which typically equates to 3 times per week as well. We use a Toro 4150 typically set at 9/16". These are much larger machines and far more powerful than the triplexes, sporting five cutting decks instead of three, and large diesel engines instead of gas power V-twins.
We have discussed our Step Cut in previous posts, but for this task we utilize and oldie, but a goody the John Deere 2653 trim mower. In 1993, this very machine was one of two that mowed seemingly around the clock, all 45 acres of rough here at Legacy Ridge. Kudos to Jim our Equipment Manager for keeping this beast going for 18 years. We typically mow 9 holes of step cut per day, every day of the week, equating to 2-3 mowing's per week. This machine is somewhere between a triplex and a fairway mower in size and power, but is set to a modest 7/8" all year long.
Rough is a whole other beast itself. We can't seem to mow rough enough times in a given week (typically twice, with certain areas cut three times). Just when we seem to have caught up, another surge of growth keeps us scrambling to catch up. We operate two different machines for rough, assigned to two distinct areas of the course.
First our Toro 4700D is a very large, 7 deck rotary mower which mows all of the large rough areas between tees and greens at 2 inches. This machine has a 12.5 ft swath and would cut most home lawns in two passes, along with a great deal of shrubbery and mulch if not careful...
Second, for smaller areas around greens and tees we operate a Toro 3500D Sidewinder, also set at 2". This machine has 3 rotary decks, each identical to the seven decks on the 4700, only these can move 24" to the right or left of center to reach down steep banks, or to prevent the tire rutting from following the same path over and over. Both of these machines are usually out first thing in the morning and don't get a break until it's time to go home for the day.
The rough mowers are typically the only large mowers you will see out on the course during the day. We try to perform all other daily mowing in the early morning hours before play begins. If you come upon a rough mower during your round, they will acknowledge that they see you and move out of the line of play. They almost always have a great deal of mowing to complete that day and will try to provide a minimal distraction to you as you complete your round.
We will discuss further in later posts other equipment and machinery the turf staff utilize on a daily basis to keep our beloved course in tip-top shape for our guests.
