Rethinking Renovation: Modified sand-profile greens are a cost-efficient solution

Here’s another reason 21^st century golf course renovation is so damned expensive:

I hope you realize those push-up greens everyone wants to replace with USGA-specified models have, in many cases, lasted 60, 70 or 80 years. That’s pretty good value. Now, I would never recommend building old-fashioned push-up greens because native soils, especially here in the Midwest, are too clay heavy.

But we are proponents of the modified sand-profile green we just rebuilt at Butte des Morts Country Club in Appleton, Wis. We salvaged the existing sod and the layer of top-dressing that had accumulated on the green and replaced it after the green was reshaped. It was supplemented with a slit-drainage system, along with a 7:2:1 mix, so we ended up with about 8” of sandy material on top. The sub-soil was native, so “push-up” in nature. If we can re-use the existing top-dressing layer and eliminate the gravel layer in the green, we can reduce costs — perhaps by as much as 25 percent over the course of 18 green renovations.

Is there a reason you wouldn’t want to build something similar, with the same efficiency, if you thought your course or club might get 50-75 years out of it? You tell me.

Photos courtesy of Butte des Morts Country Club