Mowing Machines

The excellence of your putting greens depends, to a large extent, upon the kind of mowing machine you possess. The ordinary Philadelphia lawn mower of common use does not cut the grass close enough for golfing purposes, and so it is necessary to have a special machine made, with the same width of blade but with smaller wheels, so that the knife may be brought closer to the ground. This slight change in the implement will make all the difference between good and bad putting greens.

Water

Finally, you must have a water supply available at each green. The actual amount of water to be used varies, of course, with the differences in climate. But there are very few parts of the United States where nature's water supply may not be supplemented with considerable advantage, and there are a great many regions where golf is out of the question on any other terms.

In making your plans for a complete water system, there is only one thing to remember. Green committees are apt to take an average rainfall as their basis, and imagine that four inches a month - which would be a large allowance from heaven in any climate - is more than sufficient when supplied by artificial means. One inch a week would certainly be ample for the purpose if it were distributed in cloudy weather, just as nature gives her moisture. But an artificial supply is only needed in warm, dry weather, when the evaporation is tremendous. Consequently, what would be acceptable from nature will not nearly answer the purpose when it comes from a well.

What you actually need depends entirely upon your climatic conditions. But it may be useful to point out that on courses in the west it is not at all too liberal to calculate upon a basis of half an inch a day during July and August. That, of course, is for the putting greens alone. Generally speaking, no attempt is made to water the whole course. And yet there is no reason why even this task should not be undertaken in regions where golf is almost entirely ruined by the drought of the western summer. Granted that your water system is adequate for the purpose of keeping your putting greens in good condition, it would require no great expenditure to increase the supply and so be in a position to sprinkle your whole course once or even twice a week. Of course the sprinkling must be a thorough one, to have the desired effect, but there are numberless courses west of the Alleghanies which would be improved five hundred per cent in the hot weather by the outlay. In fact, an entirely satisfactory water system would make the whole difference between playing golf and playing some other inferior game.

I do not imagine that there is any course in the east which requires this hydrogenic treatment; yet even there a good supply of water can do no harm, and will very often prove enormously beneficial,

Hazards

It only remains to speak of the various hazards which may be inserted in a course when the turf has been put in perfect condition. Once more let me repeat that all obstructions, such as trees, ditches, boulders and quarries, so often spoken of with pride as natural hazards, should at all costs be removed. The ideal way to go about making an inland links is to get, first of all, about two hundred acres of undulating pasture land without a single obstruction or excrescence of any sort. There is, as a matter of fact, no such thing as a natural hazard upon an inland course, unless it be a stream or a pond of water. Having got your wide stretch of turf, which should be as smooth as velvet in every part, you may then put in all the sand bunkers you require; for sand bunkers are the only hazards, with the exception of water, which should be allowed under any circumstances. Long grass may grow off the course to punish wild driving, and in some cases it may be left, as explained above, in front of the tee. In cutting your bunkers do not be afraid to make them large and varied in shape. Most inland greens are spoiled by the fact that the hazards are not big enough to catch all the missed balls which go in their direction. Do not forget, moreover, that in many cases the hazard should stretch from the edge of the teeing ground to a distance of a hundred yards or more, so that a missed drive must positively bring its punishment. A bunker is very little good unless it is thirty feet wide, or is guarded by a high face. Whenever you see a ball jump a bunker which lies across the line of fire, you may take note of it, and if the same accident repeats itself often, you should set to work at once and widen your bunker. In making your hazards it is best to choose spots which are naturally suited to the purpose, such as hollows in the ground or hillsides; a regular line of cops set down on a flat surface present the appearance of military earthworks and add neither to the beauty of the landscape nor the variety of the game.

In guarding your putting greens, do not always put a straight bunker right in front of the man who is approaching. Some greens should be protected in that way, others should be between hazards, a few should be entirely surrounded, and hardly any should be absolutely free. It is a good plan also to have at least one or two holes where the bunkers are so close that the approach must be played with a certain amount of back spin. On most American courses the greens are either so small and keen that no mortal man can pitch his ball on them and keep it there, or else they are so large and free from bunkers that the veriest duffer can loft on to them with ease. The happy medium has not yet been struck. Of course every green should not be too closely guarded, but a few out of the eighteen should certainly call for a display of skill in administering back spin. And in order to bring about this end, your greens must be keen. Provided that your water supply is adequate and your grass is strong it is quite impossible to make an inland green too keen. As long as you keep your turf watered every nig*ht in warm weather, you may cut the grass as short as possible, and yet not make your putting and approaching too difficult. The expense of making bunkers on inland courses is naturally large. For that reason it is particularly desirable that you should go boldly to work at first upon your hazards and make them of a proper size. A bunker thirty feet wide will stop most topped balls, but that is practically the minimum. Many of them should be considerably larger.