Smoother fairways with a 10 ton vibratory roller

This is a quick way to get smoother fairways. The fairways at Bangsai Country Club near Bangkok have been rolled with a 10 ton vibratory road roller to make them smoother and, one presumes, a bit firmer.

This 10 ton vibratory road roller really smooths out the fairways. pic.twitter.com/YTQwqH821k

— Micah Woods (@asianturfgrass) July 10, 2019

Rolling was done during the rainy season in 2018 and this treatment had such a good effect on the fairways that the 10 ton roller was brought back in 2019.

These are approximately 25 year old fairways with a 10 cm (4 inches) sandcap above a shrinking and swelling clay. The course is generally maintained quite dry through the six months of the year with minimal rainfall. Because of this drying, the underlying clay had changed shape enough over the years of shrinking and swelling cycles so that one could notice bumps and (during the dry season) cracks in the fairways. Rolling with the 10 ton vibratory roller during the rainy season has made the fairways a lot smoother.