Golfers are obsessed with green speed, but superintendents have a different priority
What aspect of a golf course’s condition do you remember most? For many golfers, it’s the speed of the greens. This traditional narrative holds that nice courses have fast greens and bad courses have slow greens. But for superintendents, keeping greens in great condition is about far more than speed. That’s the idea that Chad Allen, former superintendent at The Club at Chatham Hills and an eight-year member of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America, wants golfers to better understand.
Golf Digest: What’s the most important agronomic concept that you wish golfers would understand?Allen: There has always been a need for speed on the greens. That's the most important thing, and that's how golf courses are judged. That couldn’t be further from the truth.
The USGA has come out with the GS3 ball, and I used one at Chatham Hills. It measures smoothness, trueness, firmness and then speed. We’ve learned that if you can get a green that's smooth, true and firm, then speed doesn't even matter. It has no effect on it.
There are guys that are hardcore speed-centric people that will say, “These are the fastest greens we’ve ever played on.” I’ll tell them, “No, they’re still 11 on the Stimpmeter, but they’re the smoothest greens you’ve ever played on.” Agronomically, you really have to balance everything when it comes to your cultural and mechanical practices, not just focusing on speed.
USGA/Kyle LaFerriere
Golf Digest: That’s really interesting how speed can sometimes be a misnomer.Allen: We have a gentleman that we worked with named John Riley, and instead of “speed,” he calls it “farness.” That’s really what most people are measuring when they think that they’re measuring speed. A Stimpmeter measures how far the ball goes, which is not necessarily how fast the greens are.
It’s a completely different concept that we’re learning with the GS3, which measures how quickly the ball stops instead of just how far it goes. There’s a difference. With the GS3, it’s all about how quickly the ball stops.
It’s a concept that we’re trying to change because we can’t keep up with some courses. It’s a budgetary thing—the shorter the grass, the more intensive you do it, the more expensive it is. Plus, not every course wants to be at a 13 on the Stimp.
With greens at some Golden Age courses, they are so sloped that speed ruins them. You’ll get only three pinnable locations. If we can start to change the narrative from “Speed is king,” to “Speed is important, but smoothness, trueness and firmness also matter a lot.” I don’t know anybody that likes to play on soft greens. So, if you can balance those three factors, then speed doesn’t matter. You’re going to have a great time.
It's counterintuitive to what we’re used to because it’s been so ingrained to think “How fast are the greens?” The reality is it doesn’t matter because I can make a fast green, and it can be as bumpy as throwing gravel down on a road. Is that what you want? Of course not. You want a harmonized green, and having all of those other factors in alignment is going to make your golfing experience much better.
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Category: General Sports
