Mowing the Shaded Rough

We have certain areas in the rough that we give preferential treatment to with the hopes of prolonging turf cover through the summer months.  These areas are the shaded areas underneath trees.  Not all areas underneath trees are maintained this way, only the areas where the densest shade is present.

Plants require light to effectively complete the process of photosynthesis, which is the process the plants use to continue to grow and survive.  If plants do not receive an adequate amount of light, it will not be as strong or as healthy as it could be otherwise.  By the time the light reaches the grass under trees, the most beneficial light frequencies have already been filtered out by the leaves on the trees.  This only leaves the "scraps" for the turf underneath.  This is the reason the turf in shaded areas is much more prone to damage.  Also, once the turf is damaged, it is less likely to recover.

To give the turf in the shaded areas the best opportunity to survive through the summer, we do not mow these spots with our usual equipment.  The majority of the rough is mowed with a gang mower pulled behind a tractor.  We also have several riding mowers we use also.  We chose to prevent these mowers from traveling under the trees in an effort to avoid damage that can be caused from the heavy equipment.  So, we use a lighter mower and walk mow these areas.  Another deviation from the normal rough mowing schedule is we only mow these areas once a week to allow as much leaf tissue as possible to capture light.

You may also notice ropes preventing cart traffic in several of these areas as well.  These ropes are in place to prevent traffic damage from carts.

These turf areas are the weakest on the course, so we do what we can to prevent them from turning to dirt.