What Makes Greens "Fast Greens?"

Question

We're playing a course this weekend and a guy warned me about the greens being "fast." What makes greens considered fast?

I know what happens on fast greens, but wondered what makes some greens fast as others not. Thanks!!

Answer 1

the higher the grass, the slower. Also firmer ground is faster than softer ground. in addition, water can slow down the ball

Answer 2

Many things attribute to the speed of greens, including height of the cut, firmness, grain, etc.

Answer 3

Well at certain courses the greenskeepers will roll the greens which makes them more firm.  Which will first off make the ball make a first big bounce when the hit them and also make them more tight which makes them faster.  Also if there is a lot of undulation, the greens will be faster because you will be putting down a lot of hills and it might be hard to stop the ball around the holes.  Good luck

Answer 4

the biggest factor is how short they cut the grass, the shorter the grass, the faster they roll.

Other factors are dryness and surface underneath the grass.

Answer 5

Several factors make greens fast. It can start with a lack of watering. It can be due to close mowing  or double cutting. It can be double cutting and rolling all have a tendency to produce fast greens. So many superintendents spoil member's games by going to 11 or 12 on the stimpmeter when none of them ever experienced more than 8.5. This is usually at the request of a greens committee member who has more power than brains. Usually happens around the time of the 3 day Member- Guest tournament.

Answer 6

Green speed varies, usually due to weather. Greens are slow after rain but fast during a drought. Green speed could vary in the early mornings because of dew on some greens and not on others and things like that.

Answer 7

Mostly it is the length of the grass.  Shorter grass puts up less resistance to the ball so it rolls farther.  Also firmness, grain, and smoothness will contribute to speeding up the greens.