Now on part 7, this series has so far examined mostly visual clues to bowling green performance. Moving on now to the functional qualities of turf grass that can be used to make a more tangible appraisal of the performance of the green, we start to get to the point where we can make a quantitative appraisal of bowling green performance.
In the performance evaluation of the bowling green there are visual and functional measurements we can make to ascertain the likely performance of the green. Colour and Smoothness are the last two visual components we need to look at before moving on to the functional attributes we can measure. On the face of it, colour and smoothness seem like fairly innocuous elements to focus on; almost too obvious you might say. Let's see if they are more important or even different to what we previously thought.
So far in this series of articles on the subject of bowling green performance we have used some of the common visual clues to assist in our evaluation of the turf. Today we'll break from that to dig a little deeper into the physiological aspect of the different turf grass species that influence what we see on the surface. Turf Grass Growth Habit can play a big role in the ultimate performance of the bowling green. so let's get started on indentfying the main differences.
In the performance evaluation of the bowling green, one of the key factors is turf grass density which is important due to its ability to influence other performance factors and in monitoring bowling green and soil health generally.
The Performance Evaluation of the Bowling Green we embarked on last time relies on our ability to appraise a range of factors. Some of these are purely visual, while others are functional and can be quantified more readily. The trick lies in gaining the experience to merge the visual data with likely performance traits. Good old fashioned greenkeeping and the greenkeeper's "feel" for the turf are still as relevant as they've always been. Today we get started on the process of evaluating bowling green performance.
Green Performance Explained in terms that show the multitude of characteristics of turfgrass plants and their environment that work together to make up the bowls green eco-system. By working in harmony with this eco-system, greenkeepers can shorten the learning curve on turf surface performance dramatically.
Soil Moisture and Bowls Green Performance are so closely linked that we assume we know everything there is to know about it. More sand will make it better surely? Master Greenkeeper John Quinn has been digging a little deeper than most and putting his students to work on some experiments to get to the root of truly High Performance Bowls Greens.
Bowls green performance and organic matter go hand in hand. In this article we continue to test our hypothesis about the effect Organic Matter has to bowls green surface performance. John compares the different kinds of organic matter in greens and shows how we can measure these to direct us to a better maintenance regime that focusses on performance and produces healthier greens and greens that are more economical to maintain.
"Bad rinks", "bad roads on rinks", "straight hands", "off the heads", just some of the multitude of anecdotal evidence for poor bowling green performance. Meantime the real causes of problem greens are not only missed, but are actually being perpetuated by some of the maintenance practice we employ. The Objective Measurement of Bowls Green Performance is long overdue so we can move on and start to work on the real issues.
