Putting green surface management is a frequently discussed topic during my USGA Course Consulting Service visits throughout the Southeast. Maintaining quality putting greens directly impacts the playing experience and overall satisfaction of golfers. Daily maintenance such as mowing and rolling are typically supplemented with topdressing, verticutting and many other practices to achieve the goal of having the best putting surface possible. One often overlooked but highly effective tool for achieving this goal is the prism gauge.
This simple yet powerful device can significantly improve the quality and performance of your greens by ensuring mowers are delivering the quality and height of cut you expect when they leave the shop. Below are some of the benefits of incorporating regular prism gauge measurements into your maintenance routine.
Ensure precision and accuracy in mowing
A prism gauge provides a clear and magnified view of the grass blades, allowing you to inspect the quality of cut more closely than with the naked eye. This precision is helpful for identifying issues such as tearing, bruising or uneven cuts, which can affect the health and appearance of the turf. Regularly checking the mower's performance with a prism gauge allows you to make necessary adjustments to ensure a clean, precise cut. The prism gauge will also give you a clear understanding of the difference between the “bench height” set in the shop by the equipment manager and the actual height of cut out on the golf course.
Guide and evaluate management practices
Using a prism gauge helps you identify times when the staff needs to perform extra mowing, verticutting and grooming of the putting greens to achieve the surface consistency and quality desired. Once these practices are completed, the prism gauge will help quantify the impact of the activity by showing the difference in surface quality before and after.
Improve turf health
Healthy turf is the foundation of high-quality greens. A clean cut minimizes stress on grass blades, reduces risk of pest damage, and promotes quicker recovery and optimal growth. When mowers are correctly adjusted and maintained using insights from a prism gauge, the turf is less likely to suffer from scalping, uneven development or other issues that can detract from its overall health and appearance.
Enhance playability
The quality of cut directly impacts the playability of the greens. Smooth, uniform turf ensures consistent ball roll and enhances the golf experience. By using a prism gauge to fine-tune mower settings, you can achieve a higher standard of playability that meets the expectations of even the most discerning golfers. Additionally, incorporating prism gauge measurements with GS3™ smart ball trueness and smoothness measurements helps identify how mowing impacts surface performance, allowing you to determine a range of mowing heights that work best for your greens.
Final thoughts
I recommend using a prism gauge at least once a week if you are mowing greens. The equipment manager can perform this check during their weekly duties and communicate the results to the turf management team. It's also essential to verify actual height of cut whenever the bench height is adjusted. This information keeps the team informed and helps the equipment manager refine the grinding schedule and other maintenance of the mowing fleet to deliver consistent quality and height of cut. Establishing this routine will yield significant dividends in the quality of mowing.
Southeast Region Agronomists:
Jordan Booth, Ph.D., senior director, USGA Course Consulting Service – jbooth@usga.org
Chris Hartwiger, director, Agronomy – chartwiger@usga.org
Chris Neff, agronomist – cneff@usga.org