Resizeing Greens to the Orginal size Cancel The title field is required!

1. Virgil Range

   

   0 posts
   
   3/7/2014 7:03 PM

   All 18 of my greens have been reduced in size from 10% to about 50%. throughout the years areas that use to be green has been sodded with Zoysia or Bermuda. has anyone worked with this before. Whats the best way to fix it.
   - probe and find original green cavity.
   - strip anything but the good bentgrass including the entire collar
   - sod green area with bent and collar with zoysia.
   - water and grow
   
   Is that the basics or should I stay away from the sod and seed everything but the collars. Still sod the collar with zoysia.
   
   Thanks for any advice.
   
   Virgil

   
   
   
   
2. Wahlin Scott B

   
   3/8/2014 6:03 AM

   I resurfaced USGA greens and found the original cavity by probing. The greens were 15+ years old and I was shocked at how close they were to the original sizes. There were only a few spots where they had come in more than a foot or two. Even with a USGA Spec green you have to have surface drainage as well. The architect tried to have a low spot behind a bunker on a par 3. The original superintendent tried to change the design, was overruled and it turned out he was right. It never worked. We added a little elevation to this area when we rebuilt it so it would drain off of the green and it was never a problem again.

   
   
   
   
3. Clay Putnam

   

   33 posts
   
   3/8/2014 9:03 AM

   Virgil Range said: All 18 of my greens have been reduced in size from 10% to about 50%. throughout the years areas that use to be green has been sodded with Zoysia or Bermuda. has anyone worked with this before. Whats the best way to fix it.
   - probe and find original green cavity.
   - strip anything but the good bentgrass including the entire collar
   - sod green area with bent and collar with zoysia.
   - water and grow
   
   Is that the basics or should I stay away from the sod and seed everything but the collars. Still sod the collar with zoysia.
   
   Thanks for any advice.
   
   Virgil

   
   
   Virgil,
   
   Probing will work if you have a subsurface to identify the green edge. A local course went thru the same process of recapturing their almost 100 year old pushup greens. No subsurface to distinguish the green. They found old photos and some original hand drawn plans to determine the original edges of the greens. Some of their greens edges could be visually identified by standing back and looking at the surround topography & infrastructure; severe slopes/mounds/etc.
   
   As for seed vs. sod, I suppose it comes down to preference, time, and budget. I personally prefer seed. I have always had a stronger bent population from seed than from sod. If you want Zoysia collars then I would seed the greens and sod the collars. Again, just my preference.