Temporary Greens

Frequently Asked Questions

Temporary Greens are used simply to protect the main greens from excessive wear and damage during adverse weather conditions. Continuous foot traffic during poor conditions can create detrimental effects both short and long term to the green surface and the soil stability.

They are also used on the odd occasion when contractors/staff safety is required due to greens maintenance; or when the greens are recovering following maintenance or vandalism.

How do we decide when to use a temporary green?

All Greenstaff follow a procedure and set guidelines which determines whether a temporary should be used.

• Walk on and walk off areas (traffic management around greens and on greens)
• Standing water (localised flooding/surface water)
• Unstable putting surface (root shearing/compaction)
• The long term detrimental effects to the playing surface
• During a thaw following freezing conditions
• Light dusting of snow or thawing snow
• Undergoing maintenance 

Why can the temporary not be cut shorter? 

The temporary greens are essentially the approaches. Due to the nature of some temporaries on approaches also suffering due to poor conditions; additional temporaries are cut out in-front of the approaches on the fairway. Both the approaches and additional temporaries are mown to a height of cut of 10mm.

The maintenance and attention given to the main green surfaces is not applied to the same level to temporaries. This is simply due to the performance of the area and costs.

If the temporaries are cut shorter, the risks on how they react to wear increases. The plant will become weaker and less tolerant to wear. The opportunity of disease developing during high disease pressure conditions will also increase. Ultimately cutting them shorter could potentially render them completely unusable.