This Is The "Rough Is Thick In The Spring" Post

We have been fielding many comments over the last couple of weeks about the difficulty of the rough on the course.  This is not unusual for this time of year.  We have made posts to the blog previously about the growth habit of grass in the spring.  Here is a link to a post on May 16th (almost the same day) in 2011-It's Rough Out There!  There is nothing new to add to that post.

Spring is a usual time for rapid growth of cool season grass-like we have in the rough.  It is difficult to keep up with the rough mowing during all of the activities we like to accomplish in the spring.  We have been mowing the rough two times per week and localized spots have been getting mowed three times.  This rapid growth of the grass will pass and the course will play to what golfers are accustomed to playing in the summer and fall.

We do present 2 different heights of cut in the rough.  Our first cut of rough is 1 inch shorter than our second cut.  The first cut is 4 passes with our Sidewinder mower which will create approximately 20 feet of shorter grass around each fairway and 10 feet around the par 3 approaches.  This picture shows a ball sitting in the first cut of rough.

The second cut of rough is the lowest priority area on the course.  It is the area that we do the least amount of maintenance to.  This picture shows a ball sitting in the second cut of rough.

I am pasting here the last paragraph of the post "It's Rough Out There"  It is a great summary to the varying conditions on the course:

The course is ever changing.  In the spring the rough makes the course challenging, following a rain event you might not get 30 yards of roll in the fairways thereby changing your approach shot into a green, on a windy day your drive could be blown off course…  The influences that nature has on the course is integral to the game, it creates interest.  It is up to the player to adapt their game so as to overcome seasonal influences.