Five reasons why you should measure the clipping volume

Everyone checks the growth of the grass by counting basket empties or other more subjective evaluations of how rapidly the grass is growing. Measuring the volume of clippings mown from an area, and then reporting it as volume per area, is an exciting measurement that represents directly the overall objective of turfgrass management -- modifying the growth rate of the grass to create the desired playing surface.

I shared data and case studies from around the world to explain how this measurement works and why the simple measurement of clipping volume has so many exciting implications for golf course maintenance. These include improved management (or optimization) of surface consistency, green speed, topdressing, and more.

Transcript

1. Five reasons why you should measure the clipping volume Micah Woods April 23, 2018 Chief Scientist Asian Turfgrass Center www.asianturfgrass.com @asianturfgrass
2. #ClipVol
3. #ClipVol data from these locations
5. Five reasons why 1. Growth rate
6. Five reasons why 1. Growth rate 2. Green speed
7. Five reasons why 1. Growth rate 2. Green speed 3. Nutrient use and supply
8. Five reasons why 1. Growth rate 2. Green speed 3. Nutrient use and supply 4. Consistency
9. Five reasons why 1. Growth rate 2. Green speed 3. Nutrient use and supply 4. Consistency 5. Topdressing
10. 1. Growth rate
11. Old Course, St. Andrews
12. Old Course, St. Andrews
13. Kashima Soccer Stadium, Japan
14. Kashima Soccer Stadium, Japan
15. Royal Bangkok Sports Club
16. Siam CC Plantation Course, Thailand
17. Let’s apply clipping volume
19. photo courtesy of Evan Mascitti
21. “I thought the grass performed and looked the best when clipping yield was between [30 to 40 mL/m2]” Evan Mascitti
25. 2. Green speed
26. greenkeeper Andrew McDaniel (@drumcturf) at Keya GC, Japan
27. Keya GC, Japan
34. Keya GC, Japan
35. Keya GC, Japan
38. Victoria GC, Canada
43. Eric Reasor project, photo at Koshigaya GC, Saitama, Japan
45. 3. Nutrient use and supply
46. Nichino Ryokka research center at Chiba, Japan
47. Chiba, Japan
49. For bentgrass, with every 10 mL/m2, expect a dry matter harvest of 0.6 g/m2. Or, for every 83 mL/m2, expect a dry matter harvest of 1 lb/1000 ft2.
50. Then resupply as desired For example, 83 mL/m2 of bentgrass ≈ 0.04 lbs N/1000 ft2. And 0.02 lbs K/1000 ft2. And so on.
52. 4. Consistency
53. Augusta National GC, USA
54. Keya GC, Japan
59. 5. Topdressing
60. Tifeagle, Thailand
61. “41% of members and players complain that sanded greens play poorly, according to turf managers who participated in recent GCI research.” GCI Magazine—April 2018
62. Kanto region, Japan
67. Table 1: Annual clipping volume at that location from 2013 to 2016 Year Volume Estimated dry weight N applied L/m2 g/m2 lb/1000 ft2 2013 4.4 266 NA 2014 3.4 201 2.6 2015 2.9 172 2 2016 2.4 142 1.7
68. 1. Growth rate 2. Green speed 3. Nutrient use and supply 4. Consistency 5. Topdressing
69. For more, please see www.asianturfgrass.com or @asianturfgrass on Twitter.