rolling

I’ve noticed that traffic—just enough traffic—can transform some grasses into an amazing type of surface. I’ve seen this with Cynodon in China, with Festuca in Iceland, and in other places as well, but those are a couple that come to mind.

I see a lot of grass in driveways, parks, lawns, and fields when I run around southern Thailand. And because I can’t run very fast, and I happen to be curious about grasses, I get a pretty good look at what is growing.

There’s an interesting article by Espevig et al. on Effects of rolling and N-fertilization on dollar spot and Microdochium patch on golf greens in Scandinavia. rolling a red fescue green two times a week reduced dollar spot by 61% compared to no rolling rolling four times a week reduced dollar spot by 95% increasing annual N on a creeping bentgrass + Poa annua green from 15 to 24 g/m2 reduced dollar spot by 24% but the following spring saw twice as much Microdochium patch on the plots which received the higher N rate There are a number of surface performance benefits that come from rolling, and disease suppression is one of them.

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 is a report of one week in Japan, during which I taught a seminar about turfgrass nutrient requirements, visited five golf clubs in four different prefectures—only one of which had less than 36 holes—and saw lots of interesting course maintenance equipment and grasses.