Golf course masterclass: behind the scenes
What it takes to run a golf course, told by the people who do it. Tournament prep at Belvoir Park and Clandeboye, and Terry Crawford looking back on 46 years in turf.
What I'd take from the greenkeepers
Power Packs: the 2.5kg bags cover 70 to 100m². The 8kg bags cover 228 to 320m².
Not sure of your size? Measure your lawnA masterclass on cutting grass extremely short
I took the channel down to Donaghadee Golf Club to meet my old friend James Devoy, a top greenkeeper, to find out how they cut greens so short and what you can take from it for your own lawn.
- How low the greens are cut
- Why the heights go up in winter
- Cylinder against rotary
- Setting the height of cut
- The paper test for a clean cut
- Verticutting the greens
What happens in this one
Donaghadee's greens are cut at 3mm through the summer and raised to 5mm for autumn and winter. The aprons and tees sit at 10 to 12mm, the fairways at 12mm and the rough at 50mm. James can go lower on the greens, but he explains what happens to the grass if he pushes it too far.
Back in the workshop he shows why a cylinder mower gives a better finish. It cuts like a pair of scissors, with the cylinder spinning against a bottom blade that doesn't move. A rotary blade, like most garden mowers have, cuts by spinning round and bashes the grass more.
Then he sets the height with a gauge, a tenth of a millimetre at a time, and checks the cut with a folded piece of paper. If the cylinder doesn't slice the paper cleanly the whole way across, it's not ready to go out.
There's a second set of units that goes on the same mower, and they do the opposite of a clean cut.
How the pros cut grass to perfection
It's Scratch Cup day at Belvoir Park, and Aaron Small shows what goes into getting a course ready for a big event.
- Why prep starts weeks before
- Cutting the greens for a tournament
- Feeding greens little and often
- Measuring green speed
- What a speed roller does
- Why they don't roll every day
What happens in this one
Golfers think tournament prep happens that morning. Aaron explains it starts weeks before, with the feeding on the greens, tees and aprons, while the members still play every day.
The greens are cut at 3mm. Every two weeks they get a liquid feed with a growth regulator and seaweed, plus two granular feeds a year, one at the start of the season and one at the end. The liquid trickle-feeds the grass so it always has what it needs.
Then he measures green speed with a stimpmeter, rolling balls both ways on a flat spot and averaging them, so a slope doesn't skew the number.
Then the speed roller goes on, and you see how much faster the greens get without cutting them any lower.
The machinery needed for a golf course
Aaron Small takes us round the sheds at Belvoir Park to show what it takes to run a modern golf course, from the greens mowers to the mechanic's ramp.
- The red ball and green ball system
- Why machines get washed every day
- The brush on the greens mower
- Keeping the blades sharp
- Spreading feed accurately
- When to verti-drain
What happens in this one
Every mower that comes in gets a red ball. The mechanic checks the height and quality of cut, then swaps it for a green ball so the operator knows it's ready for the morning. Everything gets washed after use too, because grass clippings rot the metal.
Aaron says there's no point sending someone out to cut if the machine's not sharp. A blunt blade damages the leaf and gives you problems with disease. The fairway mowers go on the grinder about three times a year.
The verti-drainer can go about ten inches down and heave the ground to fracture it. The best time is when the ground's firm, so it cracks, and the roots follow the cracks down.
Aaron also explains why a 20-year-old tractor still earns its place in the shed.
How the pros look after perfect grass
The Euro Pro Tour came to Northern Ireland for the first time, at Clandeboye, with Sky TV filming. Terry Crawford shows what his team did to get the course ready.
- Cutting a new hole
- What a tour pro thought of the greens
- Three weeks of greens prep
- Why they cut in the afternoon
- Darker greens for the cameras
- Choosing the pin positions
What happens in this one
Three weeks out, the greens were hollow tined to let the water down, then sprayed with a wetting agent. After that came liquid feeds and growth regulators, to keep the greens firm and fast. The target was 10 to 11 on the stimp.
During the tournament the greens were cut twice a day. Terry likes the afternoon cut best, because the morning dew stops you getting a sharp cut.
The greens also got a spray to darken them up for the TV cameras. Terry admits he'd rather have them a bit more yellow, so golfers can see the breaks.
Even the bunkers are raked differently for the week, and Terry explains why they don't do it the rest of the year.
Why you should use this fertiliser to get an amazing lawn
This is the seaweed one. We follow it from the shore, where it's cut by hand, to the factory, and then out onto the links at Ballyliffin, home of the 2018 Irish Open.
- How seaweed is harvested
- Cold pressed extraction
- A links greenkeeper's programme
- Seaweed, algae or kelp?
- Feeding the soil, not just the lawn
- Seaweed and new seed
What happens in this one
Mark from Ocean Knowledge shows the harvest. They cut by hand at low tide and leave six to eight inches on the rock, so it grows back in three to five years. At the factory it's hand-picked, chopped and spun, so the liquid comes away from the solids.
At Ballyliffin, links superintendent Andy Robertson runs fescue greens on a traditional programme. Iron sulphate, sulphate of ammonia and seaweed go on through the growing months, then iron and seaweed through the winter.
Declan Gallagher explains the part most people miss. Some of what you spray soaks into the leaf, but the rest washes down into the soil and feeds the microbes that break down dead material. That's feeding the soil, not just the lawn.
Then Dr Deborah Cox explains what seaweed does for the roots, and why timing it matters.
40 years at the top of greenkeeping
Terry Crawford is about to retire after 36 years at Clandeboye and 46 in turf. Before he goes, he walks me round the course and talks about what's changed.
- Why they went back to Toro
- Robots and full hybrids
- Hand mowers for the winter
- How low the fairways go now
- What the weather has changed
- Draining every green
What happens in this one
The greens staff are ten strong now, with two mechanics. Terry explains why they've moved away from the hybrid mowers for now, and where he thinks the battery kit and the robots are heading in the next couple of seasons.
From October they swap to hand mowers on the greens, because the heavier ride-ons don't give a good cut in the wet. The winters are milder and wetter now, and the greens still get cut four or five times a week.
Terry's records show about the same rain every year for the last ten years, but it comes at different times, with fewer frosts and damper winters. That's why drainage has been the big job, and there are only two greens left to drain on the Dufferin.
Terry also picks out the jobs he's proudest of from his 36 years at Clandeboye.
About this guide
I spent 20 years as a greenkeeper, the last 8 at Clandeboye. These videos are the inside look at running a golf course. There's tournament week at Belvoir Park and Clandeboye, and James at Donaghadee shows how greens get cut to 3mm. We follow seaweed from the shore to the links at Ballyliffin, and Terry Crawford, my mentor from my Clandeboye days, looks back on 46 years in turf.
Not everything on a golf course belongs on a lawn, but the easiest bit to bring home is what goes in the sprayer. The Greenkeeper's Secret Formula puts Green Shot Iron with Seaweed Lawn Booster, and this season's Power Pack covers the feeding.
The other two in the series cover greens renovation and building greens and bunkers.
What you can still take home
Even behind the scenes, there's plenty that works on a lawn.
Common questions
How do greenkeepers make greens faster for a tournament?
The work starts weeks before. At Clandeboye the greens were hollow tined and sprayed with a wetting agent three weeks out, then given liquid feeds and growth regulators to keep them firm.
In tournament week they're cut twice a day, and a speed roller adds pace without cutting any lower. Aaron at Belvoir Park warns you can't roll too often, because that compacts the ground.
Why can golf greens be cut so short when my lawn can't?
Greens are mostly bent grass and fescue, cut with cylinder mowers set to around 3mm, and they get looked after every day. Even then, the greenkeepers raise the height in autumn and winter, and James at Donaghadee explains what happens to the grass if he goes too low.
A garden lawn is a different grass with a different job. With a rotary mower, keep it at 30 to 50mm. With a cylinder, 10 to 30mm. And never take more than a third off in one go. The one-third rule explains why.
What do greenkeepers spray on their greens?
It varies from course to course, but liquid feeds little and often, growth regulators, iron and seaweed come up again and again in these videos. At Ballyliffin, Andy Robertson keeps it to iron sulphate, sulphate of ammonia and seaweed.
Growth regulators are a job for the pros. The iron and seaweed are what I'd take from it for a lawn, and that's what's in The Greenkeeper's Secret Formula.
How much does golf course machinery cost?
More than most golfers think. In video 3, Aaron puts a greens mower at around £30,000, a fairway mower at about £50,000 and a rough mower at £65,000. Running the course at Belvoir Park costs nearly £600,000 a year, including wages.
That's why the machines get washed every day and serviced on a ramp. Look after them and they're worth more when it's time to sell them on.
