Michigan Golf Journal May 2021

Continues on next page >> Golf Course Care Golf is the only sport where the field is being maintained while it is in play. As a result, we often see the maintenance staff during our round, especially fairway and rough mowers. While it can feel like mowers are following you around the course the reality is that they are doing their best to avoid interfering with play. Golf course superintendents and their teams work hard to produce and maintain attractive course conditions and good playability on a daily basis. Producing such conditions requires regular mowing. During the growing season, greens are mowed five to seven days per week, fairways are often mowed two to four times per week and roughs one or two times per week. While greens mowing is usually completed in advance of play, it is often not possible to mow 25-50 acres of fairways ahead of play. Moreover, mowing fairways when the grass is wet in the morning often produces significant clipping debris. Mowing when the grass is dry in the afternoon yields a Why Do Mowers Follow Me Around the Course? By Brian Whitlark, agronomist Used with permission of USGA Green Section