Breaking: Mowing Controversy!

[Bluesman57]

I've started a major controversy at the golf course where I work.  I've just been promoted to cutting fairways--I only have the 5 Par 3's for now, but will soon be sharing all 18 with two other guys.  I've only been here for 3 years, but I've always asked why we don't stripe our fairways--we just "circle" them with two mowers in tandem, resulting in the half and half pattern in the background of the image on the right.  I strongly prefer the striped look, and especially the contour striping in the left picture.  The tradeoff is that striping takes more time, but on the other hand, we always finish early and end up hacking off dead tree limbs with chainsaws, loading them into Gators, and dumping them--actual labor!   I'd rather sit on the comfy John Deer and create art.  What say you, fellow golfers and art aficionados?  (Meanwhile, I'm striping!)

[null]

Mix it up. It’s better for the grass to constantly changing the direction you’re mowing. 
 

[Kenny B]

21 minutes ago, jlukes said:

Mix it up. It’s better for the grass to constantly changing the direction you’re mowing. 
 

That's what our muni does; mostly classic, but sometimes we get stripes.  I don't really care.

[WaffleHouseTour]

Stripe them N/S one day, then E/W the next!

[Bluesman57]

1 hour ago, jlukes said:

Mix it up. It’s better for the grass to constantly changing the direction you’re mowing. 
 

That's definitely what we do with the greens.  We rotate mowing directions daily through the clockface: 2-8, then 4-10, then 3-9 and 6-12.

[Bluesman57]

13 minutes ago, WaffleHouseTour said:

Stripe them N/S one day, then E/W the next!

Great idea! Maybe zigzags some day. 

[fixyurdivot]

I like both but if forced to choose, I'd go with classic.  It's cool knowing that our forum has a golf course lawnmowing journeyman in its ranks .

[null]

1 hour ago, Bluesman57 said:

That's definitely what we do with the greens.  We rotate mowing directions daily through the clockface: 2-8, then 4-10, then 3-9 and 6-12.

Yup. Mowing that way makes it so the grass grows more vertically and creates a healthier grass plant

[goaliedad30]

Our super, by policy, wants it alternating. Each mowing rotates "straight stripes", "diagonal stripes", and "no stripes (classic)". He's stated that it's best for the turf health, as it gets mowed in various directions instead of constantly the same. We have rye/poa fairways, so not sure if it would be different for other types of grasses. I think we mow the fairways around 3 times a week.

Edited August 23, 2022 by goaliedad30
Typo

[Blueberry_Squishie]

You could get creative like the cricket curators get in Australia for festival games.

[Bluesman57]

15 hours ago, goaliedad30 said:

Our super, by policy, wants it alternating. Each mowing rotates "straight stripes", "diagonal stripes", and "no stripes (classic)". He's stated that it's best for the turf health, as it gets mowed in various directions instead of constantly the same. We have rye/poa fairways, so not sure if it would be different for other types of grasses. I think we mow the fairways around 3 times a week.

We have rye/crabgrass fairways.

[ParFore74x]

I really like how stripes look while I’m standing on the tee box. That being said, it is definitely better for the grass to change it up and if it’s constantly changing, it almost makes it look like a completely different course at times. 

[GolferXY]

I prefer healthy grass, so whatever makes that possible is fine with me. However, I prefer the look of stripes. It frames the fairway nicely, and makes those long par 4's and par 5's look very cool as they chase away into the distance.

On the other hand, those same stripes tend to make distances look longer to me. With laser rangefinders and GPS, distances are clearly delineated, but my biggest issue is the space between my ears. No matter what the rangefinder says, my eyes always have the final say and I find myself subconsciously swinging harder than needed...hello thins and chunks.

-XY

[TXPGAPro]

Most clubs will do what your club is doing because of the labor factor. But from the agronomy side, mowing stripes one way and then the next time against what you previously did is much better. It's also much more appealing to the golfer from the tee box, and easier to focus on.

[MacTourney]

On 8/22/2022 at 4:37 PM, Bluesman57 said:

The tradeoff is that striping takes more time, but on the other hand, we always finish early and end up hacking off dead tree limbs with chainsaws, loading them into Gators, and dumping them--actual labor!   I'd rather sit on the comfy John Deer and create art. 

Little late seeing this, and not sure why striping would take more time, but was just thinking about the math part knowing absolutely nothing about course mowing, and what I'm seeing in the pictures.

If mower A and mower B each cut their half of fairway 1 one in 1/2 hour each, then both mowers drove over and both cut their half of fairway 2 in the same amount of time, 1/2 hour each,  wouldn't that be equal, in total time, to mower A cutting all of fairway 1 by itself, and mower B cutting all of fairway 2 by itself.  

2 fairways cut in one-hour total labor time on each tractor.   Sound correct?

Edited May 22, 2023 by MacTourney

[Rosey31]

With the lack of rain right now down here in Florida, I don't really have a fairway preference. I just want grass!