Latest articles:
Golf Training Aid
Golf Shoes
Golf Impact Indicator
Golf Equipment
Golf Dust Training

Golf Course Cooling

Article by Brian Davies, Golf-Training-Aid.net

People who play Golf simply love this game and since it is an outdoor activity, it provides sufficient physical exercise along with fun and excitement. This game is played on an open ground spread with green grass all around, called a golf course. Normally, the ground of a golf course is planted with a grass that is called bent grass, which is a favorite of most golf players, as they feel relaxed, and comfortable playing on such a ground. Moreover, bent grass exhibits a rich, green color in the winter which is much more vibrant than the Bermuda grass greens that have a dormant brown hue. Moreover, the Bermuda grass has to be over-seeded with a cool-season grass so that the green color can be maintained throughout the year.

For year-round greenness in the golf course, there is nothing like bent grass, which is basically ideal for the cool season and can’t bear the heat. As such it needs a lot of effort in the hot weather to keep the bent grass greens fresh and in the best shape. Golf course cooling methods need to be adopted if you wish to take up this challenge, which can further get accentuated if the temperature of air and soil is 90 degree or above and 77 degrees respectively.

At such temperatures, the problem is further compounded as the growth of roots and shoots stops simply. However, it becomes easier to maintain the bent grass once the summer months are over. Golf course cooling methods have been devised by researchers to solve this problem. During the 2000 Turf grass field day at the research unit, a special project called “Golf course cooling” was started.

There are two Golf course cooling methods that are normally employed to maintain bent grass. These are:

Syringing
Fans

The first method i.e., syringing golf course cooling involves spraying water in the heat of the day over the hottest areas of the grass so that the temperature of the grass is toned down. However, this method only provides temporary moderation of the temperature as it lasts for only 15 minutes. Research shows that water alone is not sufficient for keeping the grass cool. You would also need a fair amount of evaporation to maintain the cooling effect.

The second method of Golf course cooling involves the use of fans to provide the evaporation that is needed to hold the soil moisture and keep the grass cool. Normally, fans have to run for 24 hours a day in order to have the right cooling effect. However, the amount of time that the fans have to run depends upon the size of the golf course and the dew and surface moisture conditions. If the golf course is small, the fans might only have to run from early mid morning till early evening. There might be other golf courses that would need the fans to run from early to mid morning hours when there is high dew and surface is dampened. The air from the fan splits up the moist layer of air thus enhancing the evapotranspiration golf course cooling process. There are special probes that constantly monitor the temperature of grass and indicate when it is necessary to initiate the cooling process.

The research study examined the performance of bent grass either with syringing or with fans or with a combination of both of these two methods. The bent grass was tested for quality, color, shoot density, root lengths, disease pressure and other relevant factors under different golf course cooling methods. The performance of the various methods was evaluated for efficiency and effectiveness.

People who play golf love the golf courses that have bent grass and to maintain a good growth of bent grass it has to be kept cool. This cooling can be achieved if you follow the golf course cooling methods.