Putting Green Speeds,Slopes,and Non-Conforming Hole …

1 PuttingGreenSpeeds,Slopes,and"Non-Confor ming"HoleLocationsWhenselectingholelocat ionsonyourgreens,therearea numberof factorsto JERRYLEMONST hisclassic1904 StrongandTillinghastcoursecontainsslopes thatarepracticallyimpossibletonegotiatew henthegreensarefast."Thatholelocationis illegal!Thatgreenis justunfair!Thatgreendoesn'thaveenoughhol elocations!"Thesecommentsarejusta fewthatgolfcoursesuperinten-dentshavehea rdmorefrequentlyinthelast30yearsas greenspeedshavecontinuedto holelocationorgreento beillegalor unfair?TheRulesof Golfareverydetailed,as Rule32-bestablishesthattheCom-mitteeresp onsibleforsettingupplayisto legalholeplacement?Andspecifically,whend oesa puttinggreenor specificholelocationbecome"non-conformin g"undertheRulesofGolf?Formanyyears,theUS GAandR&Ahavepublishedgeneralguidelinesfo rtheCommitteeto assistin deter-miningwhereto placeholesfairlyandhowto threefeetin radiusaroundtheholeshouldbe in goodconditionwithoutanysteepslopesor,if possible,anychangesin thedegreeof otherwords,thegreenin theholing-outareashouldbe as nearlylevelas possibleandofuniformgrade,butit nocaseshouldholesbe locatedin trickyplacesor onsharpslopeswherea playerabovetheholeshouldbe ableto puttwitha reasonabledegreeofboldness,andnotpurelyd efensively.

2 !Championshipgreensshouldbefastandunifor mlypaced, ,whileexactinga ,butwhatfactorshelpdefinea "conforming"holelocation? fewhighlights:In1976and1977,theyearsduri ngwhichtheStimpmeterwasfirsttested,theav eragespeedacrossthecountrywas6' 6".Anyspeedat 7' 6"or morewasconsidered"excitinglyfast" :PracticeRound- 8'8".FirstRound-8' 11". SecondRound- 9' 4".ThirdRound- 9' 5".FourthRound-9' 8".4In Marchof 1983,a GreenSectionagronomistdeclared,"91;2feet to101; ,anygreenfasterthan111;2feetshouldbecons ideredtoofastforsomecham-pionshipplayand dangerousforthelonglifeof thegreenif properattentionis notgiven."5 ThefinalGreenSectionRecordeditionof 1983discovered"..thatmostgolfersprefera dailyStimpmeterspeedof between7' 6"and8' 6"."6In1992," ..thiscombinationwillallowforreasonablep uttinggreenspeeds,somewherebetween7' 6"and9'." 9'6".8A 2003articletoldus,"StimpmeterreadingsonA mericangolfcoursesgenerallyrangefrom7' to12'."9By2006,"Theideaof 'target'rollingofferstheperfectcombinati onof rollingwithoutcausingexcessstress,creati ngsmoothsurfacesat whateverJULY-AUGUST200821 MaximumSlopeforGreenSpeedsMARGINALSLOPEU secaution!

3 Morethan8' aroundholeshouldbeconsistentslope. CRITICALSLOPEN oholelocations!Noholesanycloserthan10'to thisslope. RECOMMENDEDSLOPEM orethan3' < ~-0< < )c::< < '-(,:J10'-< < 'pV)87 ISlopein DegreesFigureI. It is , (stayinthe9' 6"to10'6"range,if possible)."10In2007,ratedcoursesin Tennesseehadspeedsfrom8' 1" to 9' 4"onpubliccoursesand9' 5" to10'4"onprivatecoursesYASGCA memberReesJonessaysgreenspeedsprobablywi llbeat 13' ,theGreenSectionRecordarticleswarnedof tryingto maintainfastgreens, theStimp-meter, theconversationonmosteveryroundof golf,warrantedor myopinion,mostclubshaveconsistentlymetth egoalof providingtheirgolferswithgreensat climb?I doubtthatwewilleveragainseethesamesignif icantaverageincreaseas inthelast30years,althoughsomeof 'withoutintentionandremainthatwayuntilth eturfbeginsto interestto , (forwhichmanycoursesareknown)canbeanycom binationofslopes,bumps,swales,andtwistso f anyof thesetraitscanbecomeunfairat a ,a puttthatmissestheholeplacedontoosteepa slopeona fastputtinggreenwillnotcometo ,"Whena downhillrollontheStimpmeteris 2 timesgreaterinlengththanuphill,it is downhillrollontheStimpmeteris 3 timesgreaterin lengththanuphill,it isconsideredsteeplysloped.

4 "14 Overtheyears,theGreenSectionhassuggested :Theslopeof a majorportionof aputtinggreenshouldusuallynotbegreaterth an3 percent( ),althoughsomeareasmayexceedthisforspeci alreasons,suchas ,anyslope3%( )orgreaterona10'Stimpmeterreadingis to understandwhatis "toosharpor toosteep,"weneedto fastthatplayerslostcontrolof theball22G R E ENSE C T IONR E CORDP lacingdigitaltoolsona Stimpmeteror a , whatslope,at a givengreenspeed,doesa golfballcontinueto roll?Todeterminea "conforming" slope ,weneedto knowthegreenspeedandslopethatcausea golfballto :a movingballtendsto stayinmotionwiththesamespeedandin (ofsteepslope)andfriction(oftheputtingsu r-face)areunbalancedforcesona (seeFigure1) showstheStimpmeterspeedsontheleftandslop ein ,findyourcurrentgreenspeedandgoto the"critical"slopeforthatspeed;itis wherea ,whilethegreenareaonthegraphdefines"con- forming"slopesfora havedigitaltoolsthatshowinstantlytheslop eonagreen(SmartTool,Breakmaster).

5 LiketheStimpmeter,everysuperintendentsho uldhaveoneof theseinexpensivetoolsto helpdetermine"conforming" theseinstruments,a Stimpmeter,andthisgraph,it is quitesimpleto finda mindthatthetools'accuracyin GREENS-ARCHITECTUREA mongthoseonyourlistof favoritegolfcoursearchitects,mostall,pas tandpresent, a round,andputtingcomprisesabout40%ofthest rokes, theGoldenAgesuchas Mackenzie,Tillinghast,Ross, makethosecoursesinterestingto ,thegreenshadadequatefairholelocations,a ndthesuperintendentwasableto movethemoftenenoughto allowturfto ,as greenspeedshaveincreased, 'sfastergreenspeeds,thesemasterpiecescan befrustratingtoplayandevenmoredifficultt o main-taindueto mindthatmanygreensbuiltpriorto thedevelopmentof theUSGA'smethodforgreenconstructionhadli ttleor manyclassiccourseswerenotonlyaddingchara cterto theirputtinggreens, wenowknowthemweresimplyunheardofFUNCTION ALITYP uttinggreensmustbedesignedandbuiltto functionas greento dispersegolfertraffic,holeableturfareamu stbepresentsothatturfrecoverycanoccurdur ingtherotationof these14 areashavea radiusof8'( ),then2, (piX radius2X 14)of spaceuseableforholelocationsonthegreenis 'containsabout2, Thismeansthata 5, , addi-tionalmaintenancepractices,suchasae rification, toofasta puttingspeed,thefunctionalityof thenumberof reasonableholelocationsdropsbelowsevenor eightpergreenbecausethegreensarebeingmai ntainedtoofast, ,thereareseveralfactorstoconsiderwhendet ermininga holelocation,butif it is cutontheputtingsurface,it is holeshouldbeplacedin suchapositionthatnomatterwherethe] U L Y - A U GUST2 0 0 823 TypicalS,OOO-Square-FootGreenFigure2.

6 Keepingholelocationsat leastfivepacesfromtheedgeof a greenis a ,usinga minimum10'guidelinefromthegreenedgeincre asesholeablespaceby33%.Conforming"3 Paces"18 HoleLocationsof playershouldhaveareasonableopportunityto recoverfroma ,fora longironor woodshotto thegreen,theholeshouldbelocateddeeperin thegreenandfurtherfromits sidesthanmaybethecasefora shortpitchshot. Balanceholelocationsfromright,center,bac k,front,andin havesixveryeasy,sixmoderate,andsixmodera telydifficultholelocations. Oncetheabovecriteriaaremet,theturfaround theareashouldbein goodUSGA"s Paces"13 HoleLocations UsingtheGreenSpeedSlopeChart,determineth emaximumslopebasedonthespeedof thefastestgreen,keep-ingin mindthatweatherconditionscanchangeduring thedayandmayresultin fastergreenspeeds. Studythedesignof thegolfholeandfactorsaffectingtheshotint othegreen,especiallythewind,length, Holeplacements,as a generalrule,needto beat leastfourto fivepacesfromtheedgeof holeshouldbenofewerthan10'fromtheedgeof a puttingsurfaceif nohazardsor steepslopesareneartheedgeA CHECKLISTFOR"CONFORMING"HOLELOCATIONS puttingfrom,assumingcontinuousputtingsur facebetweenhimselfandthehole,it shouldbepossibleto stoptheballwithinapproximatelytwofeetof greenso fast(ora holecutinsucha position)

7 Thata ballcannotbestoppedneartheholefromanypoi ntonthegreen,forexample,is a generalruleneedto befivepacesfromtheedgeof seea missedputtrollbackor a well-struckputtrollcompletelyoffa happensto usor a ,a holelocationcanbesetfarenoughawayfromste epslopesandtheedgeof thegreenso thata well-executedshotthatmissestheholewillno trunoffthegreen,thusgivingtheplayeranopp ortunityto agoodoneoncourseswithlargegreens,butcons iderthatona 5, ,25%of thegreenis in thefive-pacearea(Figure2).Therearecourse swithsmallor 10'guidelineincreasesholeablespaceby33%. Anevenbetterguideis to makesurethataholeis nolessthan10'fromtheedgeof a puttingsurface,butonlyif nohazardsor steepslopesarewithinfivepacesof theedgeof playerenoughroomto havea reasonableopportunityto recoverfroma holelocationonthefrontportionof a R E ENSE C T IONR E CORD condition,voidof oldcupmarks,damage,andexcessivepitchmark s. Theholelocationshouldhaveatleast3' aroundthehole(holing-outarea)thatis consistentin (yellowonthegreenspeedslopechart)shouldh aveat least6' criticalsteepslopes(inthered).

8 In nocaseshouldholesbelocatedintrickyplaces or onsharpslopeswherea playerabovetheholeshouldbeableto puttwithareasonabledegreeof playershouldnotlosetheabilityto controltheballonaputtinggreen,especially aroundtheholingarea. Fora competitionplayedoverseveraldays,thecour seshouldbekeptin balancedailyas to degreeof a strokecompetition,thefirstholeof thefirstroundis as importantas thelastholeof thelastround,andsothecourseshouldnotbeap preciablymoredifficultforanyround-balanc edtreatmentis makingthecourseprogres-sivelyharderround afterroundisfallacious. Inearlyrounds,anticipateplayers'trafficp atternsandavoidlocatingmanyholeswherewal kingacrossthegreenbymanyplayerscouldspoi lgoodholelocationsforlaterrounds. In matchplay,a holelocationmay,ifnecessary,bechangeddur inga roundprovidedtheopponentsin strokeplay,Rule36-4arequiresthatallcompe ti-torsin a singleroundplaywitheachholecutin oneday,it is notcustomaryforholelocationsto bechangedbetweenrounds,butthereisnoRulet o prohibitit.

9 If theyarechanged,allcompetitorsshouldbeinf ormed. Duringpracticedaysbeforea com-petition,it is advisableto locateholesin areasnotlikelyto beusedduringplay,preferablyat thefrontsandthebacksof greens,bearingin mindtheareasthatwillbeimpairedbyfoottraf ficpatterns. Thesuperintendentwhocutstheholesshouldma kesurethattheRulesof Golfareobserved,especiallytherequirement sthattheholelinernotexceed4"in outerdiameterandthatitbesunkat least1" belowtheputtinggreensurface(Definition15 ).Theholeshouldbecutas verticallyaspossible. Usecommonsensewithholeplace-ments:"Ifyou haveto looklong-it'swrong!"BobJonessaid,"Contro lof theballis Americaallowtheplayerto makeuseof histalenttothedegreethathecan,yetchallen gethattalentto rewardonlytheexceptional."22 AlthoughtheRulesof Golfmaynotspecificallydefinea "conforming"or" Non-Conforming "holelocati on,intheinterestof thegame, Golfnorthecommitteecanuseanexactformulat hatcanbeappliedto occurin afairmannerbyidentifyingtheplayerwiththe bestskills,buttheywillalsoallowthegreatg ameweenjoyto beplayedin thespiritthatwasintendedformanyyearsto fastthatonlya a clubis adamantabouthavingfasterspeeds,thenindiv idualgreenscanbemodifiedbyremovingsevere slopesandstillkeepthearchi-tecturalinten tof !

10 REFERENCESlUSGAG reenSectionRecord, , , , , , ,September! , , , ,"ArchitectReesJonesis excitedandproudas hisredesignedTorreyPinesSouthgetssetto ,"byEdZieralski,February13, ,November! ,JulyIAugust1987,"TurfTwisters."16 USGAG reenSectionRecord,MarchiApril2005,"TurfT wisters."17 ExcerptsfromGolfCourseArchitecture, , , USGAG reenSectionRecord, , , ,ASGCA;RickRobbins,ASGCA;ToddJenkins,PGA ; a golfcoursedesignerinOldHickory, 27-yearveteraniftheGCSAA,he earnedCGCS statusin anAssociateMemberif theAmericanSocietyif U L Y - A U GUST2 0 0 825