WHAT'S WORKING?

摘要

One of the benefits of taking measurements for greens assessments is that we can periodically pool all the results together to conduct a wider analysis. As agronomists we think that it is important to take the time to reflect on our results across theindustry and understand what's working and what isn't. In this article we focus on soil organic matter levels, which on the face of it seem to fall into the "so what" category. When we look closer, however, we start to see that maybe things were starting to head in the right direction. See what you think...This article uses data that was obtained when carrying out our STRI Programme golf green assessments throughout 2011. During such visits we measured the surface playing qualities (firmness, smoothness/ trueness and pace) as well as the underlying condition of the greens (organic matter, soil moisture content and soil chemical analysis). Our aim is to identify the key factors that influence the greens performance and pinpoint the elements of the maintenance programme that need to be adjusted to achieve "optimal" playing qualities. Each assessment gathers data from the greens to help us develop a plan for our clients that brings about improvement by working towards specific targets.