A Cut Above the Rest

When the rough is healthy, thick and lush, I receive many questions from the membership about maintaining an "intermediate cut".   An intermediate cut is the transition cut from fairway height grass to rough height grass and is often referred to as a championship cut, first cut, step cut, or intermediate cut.  Typically these questions arise in the spring and fall months of the year when peak growth occurs, however this year has definitely been the exception.  Fueled by plenty of moisture, the rough has continued its growth throughout the majority of the golf season.  Below normal air temperature and soil temperatures, plus high rainfall totals have created optimal growing conditions for these particular grasses.  In past summers the grasses in the rough have gone dormant during the months of July and August due to heat and drought stress, making the need for rough mowing minimal.  This year we have had to continue our spring and fall rough mowing schedule bringing fuel and labor expenses higher than normal for maintaining the rough.

Why can't we just "shave it down"?  Our rough is a combination of older varieties of Kentucky Bluegrass, Rye grass and Fescues which are simply not suited for heights of cut below 2 inches and would quickly decline during the onset of environmental stresses.  The grasses that comprises the majority of the rough can only tolerate heights around 2" to 3".  There are many things to consider before "shaving it down".

If an intermediate cut at 1.25" or 1.50" inches is desired, then removing and re-sodding a seven foot wide pass around all of the fairways and greens with low mow Kentucky bluegrass would be strongly recommended (similar to the grass on the driving range tee top and target greens).  We would also need to purchase a designated intermediate reel type mower, which could be set at 1.25" mowing height.  Labor, chemicals and fertilizer would have to be properly budgeted and implemented into our maintenance standards .  It will be important to keep in mind that re-sodding should not be performed until additional irrigation has been installed to support the conversion with evenly distributed water requirements.   One of our biggest challenges we face on the golf course is maintaining an even moisture level.  A large chunk of labor is currently being utilized to hand-water edges of fairways (where the intermediate cut would be located) due to lack of irrigation coverage and tree roots which suck the moisture and nutrients out of the fairway edges.  At this time installing an intermediate cut would only exacerbate the challenges we face around the edges of the fairways and would be extremely difficult to successfully manage.