Establishment of greens, tees, and bunkers

Most people associate greenkeeping with maintenance — but the education goes further: according to the competence goals in the training regulations, you must be able to design, establish and rebuild parts of a golf course, including holes, bunkers, tees and greens, and the school subject 'Green, tee and bunkers' requires that you can independently design these elements with the associated surveying and setting out. Construction is the trade's king discipline, where earthworks, drainage, root zone and grass establishment meet.

The world's most widespread recipe for a green at the top level is the USGA's recommendations for green construction. The principle is a layered construction: at the bottom of the excavated 'green box', drainage pipes are laid — according to the recommendations with at most around 4.5 meters (15 feet) between the strings. On top of that comes a gravel layer of at least about 10 cm (4 inches), and at the top a sand-based growth layer of about 30 cm (12 inches, with a tolerance of around ±2.5 cm). Materials are selected based on laboratory analyses so water permeates quickly, but the growth layer can still hold moisture and nutrients.

Before the first bucket of earth is moved, the site must be measured and set out: levels for base, gravel layer, and finished surface, gradients, and surface shapes. A green must have enough slope to drain surface water — but at the same time sufficiently large, even areas for legal and fair flag placements, which is also a topic in the school course on golf course design. In practice leveling, laser, or GPS equipment is used, and the finished surface is checked before sowing: errors in shape are almost impossible to fix once the grass grows.

• 01Tee locations must be level, well-drained, and dimensioned for wear — the smaller the tee, the faster it wears down, and the more often mats or closures must be used.
• 02Bunkers are shaped according to design but built according to the same logic as everything else: drain at the bottom so sand doesn't stand under water and wash together after rain.
• 03Edges and transitions are maintenance's problem children — think clipping and machine access into the design from the start.
• 04Sand choice in bunkers is about playability and stability: sand depth and type follow the design and are checked regularly in operation.

When the form is approved, establishment comes—in the program covered by the Grassland Establishment course including soil preparation, finishing, sowing, and fertilization and watering. Sowing is cheapest and gives free species choice, but requires weeks to months of protected establishment; ready grass (sod) gives quick use, but costs more and binds you to the supplier's species mix. In either case, establishment care determines the result: even moisture without drying out, measured fertilization, and only very light cutting at first when the root system is secure.

A newly installed system is first a success when operations can keep up. For the journeyman's exam you must be able to establish sections of a soil course and describe a detailed care plan for a 5-year period — precisely because the first years after installation require special care while growth layers and grass establish. Document materials elevations and drainage thoroughly: the next greenkeeper who has to troubleshoot a wet spot in ten years will thank you.

“A good green is built from the bottom — what you save at the bottom you pay for on top over thirty years.”

— Installation principle