THE BULLETIN

of the

UNITED STATES GOLF ASSOCIATION GREEN SECTION

Vol. 11 

Washington, D. C., May, 1931 

No. 5

Contents

Page
The Use of Fertilizers on Putting Greens................................................................ 106
Fertilizing Putting Greens at Wilshire. By Robert S. Greenfield..................  110
Experience with Fertilizers at Plainfield Country Club. By F. J. Roth........ 112
Fertilizing Putting Greens at Oakmont Country Club. By Emil Loeffler... 114
Fertilizing Putting Greens at Brookline. By Howard D. Farrant..................  115
Fertilizing Bermuda Greens for Winter Play. By O. Sproule Baker..............  117

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Ganson Depew, Chairman, Marine Trust Bldg., 

H. Kendall Read, Vice-Chairman, Philadel­

Buffalo, N. Y.

phia, Pa.

Wynant D. Vanderpool, Newark, N. J.
Robert F. Arnott, Upper Montclair, N. J.

Robert M. Cutting, Chicago, Ill.
Walter S. Harban, Washington, D. C. 
Karl F. Kellerman, Washington, D. C. 
Cornelius S. Lee, New York, N. Y.
John Monteith, Jr., Washington, D. C. 
Harvey L. Westover, Washington, D. C,

RESEARCH COMMITTEE

United States Department of Agriculture
K. F. Kellerman, Acting Chairman 
A. J. Pieters 
Harvey L. Westover 
Russell A. Oakley

United States Golf Association 

John Monteith, Jr. 
Kenneth Welton

ADVISORY COMMITTEE

W. A. Alexander, Chicago, Ill. 
Ebetihard Anheuser, St. Louis, Mo. 
N. S. Campbell, Providence, R. I.
Wm. C. Fownes, Jr., Pittsburgh, Pa. 
F. H. Hillman, Washington, D. C. 
Thos. P. Hinman, Atlanta, Ga. 
Frederic C. Hood, Marion, Mass. 
K. F. Kellerman, Washington, D. C. 
Norman Macbeth, Los Angeles, Calif.

George V. Rotan, Houston, Tex. 
Sherrill Sherman, Utica, N. Y. 
Frederick Snare, Havana, Cuba 
James D. Standish, Jr., Detroit, Mich. 
Charles E. Van Nest, Minneapolis, Minn. 
W. R. Walton, Washington, D. C. 
Alan D. Wilson, Philadelphia, Pa. 
M. H. Wilson, Jr., Cleveland, Ohio

The Bulletin is published monthly by the United States Golf Association Green Section, 

At Room 720", Building F, Constitution Ave. and 7th St., Washington, D. C.

Address all MAIL to P. 0. Box 313, Pennsylvania Avenue Station, Washington, D. C.
Send TELEGRAMS to Room 7207, Building F, Constitution Ave. and 7th St., Washington, D. C.
Subscription Price: In United States of America, Mexico, and West Indies, $4.00 per year; in 

all other countries, $5.00 per year.

Entered as second-class matter, April 21, 1926, at the post office at Washington, D. C., under the 

Act of March 3, 1879. Copyrighted, 1931. by the United States Golf Association Green Section.

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Vol. 11, No. 5

The Use of Fertilizers on Putting Greens

One of the most important problems in maintaining golf course 
turf is that of determining the kind and amount of fertilizer to be 
used on the putting greens. The general appearance of any grass 
can readily be changed by the application of the right kind of fer­
tilizer. A yellow, unthrifty putting green can within a few days be 
given a dark green color and a vigorous growth of grass simply by 
the use of some quickly available fertilizer. On the other hand, the 
injudicious use of any fertilizer may as quickly ruin turf.

The need for certain fertilizing elements in the growth of plants 
is too well appreciated to call for elaboration here. Careful fertilizer 
experiments, checked by countless practical tests under farming con­
ditions, have shown the need for specialized fertilizer formulas for 
different agricultural crops. It is well known, for instance, that a 
fertilizer which may be generally desirable for grain crops, such as 
wheat or rye, may be quite different in character from one necessary 
in the production of crops harvested for their leaves or stems, such 
as tobacco and certain forage crops. Therefore in producing turf, 
where the main object is to get a growth of leaves, the greenkeeper 
need not expect to get the most favorable results by following some 
fertilizing program which may have proved valuable in some other 
kind of agricultural work. The fertilizing elements which are most 
generally considered essential are nitrogen, phosphorus, and potas­
sium. Nitrogen is the element which is most frequently deficient in 
putting green soils and thus likely to be needed in largest amounts. 
Some soils are deficient in phosphorus, and this deficiency may be 
the limiting factor in producing turf on those soils. Deficiency in 
phosphorus is much more apt to be apparent in fairways than putting 
greens. In some cases potassium is deficient; then an application of 
potasn is likely to give striking results. However, on the big ma­
jority of courses there is very little evidence of a deficiency in potas­
sium in putting greens. Calcium, an ingredient of lime, although not 
regarded strictly as a fertilizer, is used frequently for agricultural 
purposes. To get the best growth of any plant it is desirable to have 
a favorable balance in the soil of all these fertilizing elements. If 
one or more is missing, the addition of any of the elements already 
present in abundance will be of little or no help in improving the 
crop. Practically every soil has a certain amount of all of these 
elements in addition to a large number of other elements necessary 
for plant growth. Also they are usually all present in manures and 
certain other products derived from animals or plants. To supply 
any deficiency in his soil, the modern greenkeeper or farmer has a 
wide choice of highly concentrated or of low-grade fertilizers both 
natural and artificial, as shown in the April number of the Bulletin.
The ever-growing multitude of fertilizers and fertilizer mixtures, 
each with its advocates claiming superior qualities as compared with 
all other mixtures on the market, makes the fertilizing problem 
•increasingly confusing. Undoubtedly a large number of the fertilizers 
now on the market are suitable for putting green use. It must, how­
ever, be borne in mind that any fertilizer which may be most desir­
able on a green where there is a deficiency of a certain fertilizing 
element may prove injurious if used in excess on that green. Un­
fortunately there is no simple rule that can be laid down for ferti­

May, 1931

107

lizing putting greens. There are, however, certain general principles 
that can be used as a guide in determining the fertilizing program 
for the greens on any golf course.

In making plans for the fertilization of most agricultural crops, 
due consideration is given to the natural seasonal developments, but 
on golf courses seasonal developments in many respects are ignored, 
particularly on putting greens. The grasses growing on putting 
greens are forced into a more or less unnatural condition, and efforts 
are usually made to bring them into the best of condition for special 
tournaments, regardless of whether or not it is the particular time 
when grass naturally would be at its best. Therefore the fertilizing 
program for putting greens must be modified to some extent to try 
to bring about the best growth of turf at the time of the most impor­
tant tournaments. Fertilizers which are quickly available, therefore, 
have come into much favor for putting green use because they are 
able to affect the growth of grass within a few days after they are 
applied. In order that they may produce quick results, however, it is 
desirable that the regular fertilizing program provide for well- 
balanced feeding of the grass throughout the entire season and with­
out the excessive use of any one fertilizing element.

In planning a program of fertilizing putting greens it must be 
remembered that the maintenance of a putting green constitutes a 
very intensive form of plant production. Few realize the large amount 
of plant material removed each year in the clippings from the greens. 
In the days before the grass catcher came into use this material was 
allowed to return to the soil, but under present conditions it is lost 
unless it is used in compost. In order to obtain an estimate of the 
amount and composition of this material, the grass clippings were 
weighed and analyzed from some of the better-treated putting green 
plots at the Arlington turf garden in 1930 over the period June 1 to 
November 1. The results obtained from these observations at Arling­
ton would indicate that the amount of field-dry material removed 
from 18 greens totaling 90,000 square feet would be about 4 tons, 
containing approximately the following equivalent amounts of plant 
foods: nitrogen as obtained in 2,000 pounds of sulphate of ammonia; 
phosphoric acid as obtained in 200 pounds of 20 per cent superphos­
phate; and potash as obtained in 400 pounds of 50 per cent muriate 
of potash. These figures should not be used as a basis for building 
up a complete fertilizer for putting greens, as various conditions, 
such as soil, climate, and season, would influence the results; however, 
they are valuable as indicating the importance of a careful program 
in using fertilizers. They also show the importance and value of 
saving the clippings so that the fertility removed may be, in part at 
least, returned in the form of compost.

The fertilizing program for any putting green must be based on 
the fundamental principle that a vigorous production of healthy 
leaves is desired. Fertilizers that are designed chiefly for the pro­
duction of grain or certain other agricultural crops are therefore not 
most suitable for putting greens even though sold at an attractive 
price. It is known that fertilizers containing a good proportion of 
nitrogen are most likely to stimulate a vigorous growth of leaves. 
However, too vigorous a growth may produce leaves which may suffer 
from diseases or other injuries. Therefore, although nitrogen is 
distinctly desirable as the chief ingredient of putting green fertilizers, 

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Vol. 11, No. 5

its use can be easily overdone and great damage result. It is impor­
tant to realize that nitrogen can be supplied to the turf in compost or 
mushroom soil. Frequently greenkeepers apply large quantities of 
mushroom soil or compost without realizing that they are thereby 
adding fertilizers to their turf. When large quantities of these mate­
rials are used, it is necessary that a proportionately less amount of 
the more concentrated nitrogen fertilizers be used. It is not unusual 
to apply a ton of mushroom soil or compost to a green. Such mater.a] 
usually contains about 1 per cent, or 20 pounds of nitrogen. It takes 
100 pounds of sulphate of ammonia, or 333 pounds of 6 per cent cot­
tonseed meal, to carry the same amount of nitrogen to the green. 
The nitrogen, however, in sulphate of ammonia is more quickly avail­
able to the plant than is the nitrogen in cottonseed meal, compost, or 
mushroom soil. It is well to have part of the nitrogen applied to a 
green in a form that is quickly available and some that is only slowly 
available. Experience has shown that if too much nitrogen is stored 
in the soil in a slowly available form there is apt to be damage to the 
turf at any time when weather conditions are most suitable for rapid 
disintegration, which changes the nitrogen from a slowly available 
to a readily available form and thereby produces an over-fertilization 
with nitrogen.

As indicated in articles appearing in this number of the Bulletin, 
contributed by five different greenkeepers located in different parts 
of the country, there is no standard fertilizing program for putting 
greens. It is indeed unlikely that a standard fertilizing program will 
be developed in the future, for the simple reason that different soils 
and climatic conditions require different fertilizing programs. It will 
be noted in these discussions by greenkeepers that the favored method 
of determining the need of putting green grasses for additional food 
supply from fertilizers, is careful observation of the color and general 
appearance of the grass. When the grass is being starved, it shows 
certain general symptoms which may be extremely difficult to de­
scribe, but which are, nevertheless, readily recognized by anyone who 
is a close observer of growing grass. Unfortunately every golf course 
does not have some one who is a close observer of grass who is able to 
recognize the symptoms which indicate the various needs of grass. 
This absence of discriminating observation undoubtedly is responsible 
for a great wastage of club funds in a number of instances. Fre­
quently clubs will endeavor to improve greens by some expensive 
rebuilding program, tiling, or other procedure, when the poor turf 
can be very simply explained on the basis of available plant food. 
In the latter cases the cheapest and least inconvenient method is to 
apply the required amount of fertilizer. On the other hand, there 
are undoubtedly a great many golf courses where the fertilizing pro­
gram has led to the application of excessive amounts of fertilizer, 
with the result that putting green problems have arisen calling for 
large outlays for repair work. In such cases the sensible and by 
far the least expensive solution is to reduce the budget allowance for 
fertilizers. The old appeal of Aristotle for moderation, as quoted 
on the back page of this number of the Bulletin, applies equally as 
well to the fertilizing of putting greens as to the purpose for which 
he intended it.

A general recommendation for fertilizing putting greens might 

be about as follows:

May, 1931

109

Well-prepared and weed-free compost, or mushroom soil, to which 
sand has been added, should be applied liberally to the greens at 
the beginning of the growing season. When compost prepared from 
a mixture of manure and soil is used, or when mushroom soil is used, 
the top-dressing will be of considerable fertilizing value.

One of the most important purposes of applying top-dressing is 
to fill in slight depressions in the turf and thereby improve the putting 
surface. A sifted soil, preferably sandy loam, may be used for this 
purpose. If the top-dressing has not been produced by composting 
the soil with various manures, it may be of comparatively little 
fertilizing value.

When a top-dressing of natural soil or soil mixed with sand or peat 
is used, a complete mixed fertilizer should also be used occasionally 
to provide the nitrogen and mineral elements, such as phosphorus, 
potassium, calcium, and other elements contained in manure. Although 
the mineral elements will have to be applied only occasionally it will 
be necessary to keep up the nitrogen supply; this is best done by mak­
ing frequent light applications of some soluble nitrogenous fertilizer, 
such as sulphate of ammonia.

If the fertilizing is not being done by means of top-dressing with 
compost or mushroom soil, only enough top-dressing should be applied 
to keep the putting surface true throughout the playing season.

Close cutting, brushing, raking, and even light rolling of putting 
greens, in many instances, tend to make frequent or heavy top­
dressing unnecessary.

An application of one cubic yard of top-dresing at one time is 
ordinarily sufficient to true the surface of a putting green of 5,000 
to 6,000 square feet. Often such a top-dressing in the spring and fall 
is sufficient on some greens, while on others several top-dressings may 
have to be made during the season.

Top-dressings during the playing season should be much lighter 
than the spring and fall top-dressing in order to interfere as little 
as possible with play.

Top-dressings should be worked in with a mat or some device 
which will rub the material from the high spots and deposit it in the 
lower areas.

The amount of top-dressing to apply will depend largely on the 
needs of the turf from the playing standpoint and to less extent on 
the needs of the grass for growth. When the putting surface is not 
true, top-dressing should be applied. Frequent light applications are 
better for this purpose than infrequent heavy applications.

The cost of application must also be considered on many golf 
courses, and from the standpoint of cost it is inadvisable to top-dress 
more frequently than necessary. When large quantities of compost 
or mushroom soil are used on greens they may in themselves add 
enough of the fertilizing elements to provide for adequate growth of 
the grass. Good compost is, however, more costly than it was many 
years ago, and therefore the use of compost is becoming more and 
more restricted to the actual need for providing a true putting sur­
face. Commercial fertilizers, on the other hand, have been greatly 
reduced in cost as compared with compost in recent years, and are 
therefore coming more and more into general use on golf courses. 
It is therefore advisable to supplement the compost with sandy loam 
(Concluded at bottom of page 113)

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Vol. 11, No. 5

Fertilizing Putting Greens at Wilshire
By Robert S. Greenfield
Wilshire Country Club, Los Angeles

Our putting greens, which with a few exceptions are 11 years old, 
were originally a mixture of fescue, Kentucky bluegrass, and rough- 
stalked bluegrass (Poa trivialis). Four years ago seaside bent was 
seeded upon the original turf, with the result that now the greens 
are practically pure bent, except that during the cooler months of 
the year some plants of the rough-stalked bluegrass are still evident.
Our soil is a black adobe clay 2 to 3 feet deep underlaid by a sub­
soil of a mixture of gravel and compact brown clay. Several of the 
greens were under-drained with tile and crushed rock. This drain­
age however proved of little value, as the tile was laid too deep and 
the rock fill was not brought up high enough, thus apparently being 
inaccessible to the storm water. We believe in good surface drainage 
for a soil like ours. In building the greens, top soil was not available, 
and as a rather poor substitute sandy silt from our barranco was 
used.

We depend mainly on compost top-dressings for fertilizing our 
greens. We apply I1/* yards to 4,000 square feet. As our greens are 
large, half a green can be top-dressed at a time, thus allowing a suf­
ficient portion to remain without dressing for the use of the players. 
The material is applied by hand. We have not found a mechanical 
spreader that does as good a job as a well-swung shovel. We do find 
however that a small-sized mechanical spreader is fairly satisfactory 
for applying concentrated fertilizers.

Although at various times we have used various commercial mixed 
fertilizers, we prefer those that are not mixed, such as 13 per cent 
blood meal, cottonseed meal, or fish meal. For the past two years, in 
addition to compost, we have used an organic mixture consisting of 
13 per cent blood meal, cottonseed meal, and sardine meal, with a filler 
of converted sewage, the complete analysis being 614-2-0. We apply 
this at a rate of about 100 pounds to 4,000 square feet. We are so 
well pleased with this mixture that we have it made up to our order 
by a local dealer.

We have no fixed feeding program, except that in the early fall 
we always apply a compost top-dressing to all our greens and aprons. 
We feel that the less stimulation given turf at that time, the better. 
Heavy winter play nevertheless calls for some fertilization; so we com­
promise with a mild compost, which carries us through the winter in 
fair shape.

Our greens generally respond to the spring rains without much 
assistance from us, and show vigor and good color. They are ready 
for fertilization about May, when we give them a compost top-dressing 
and an application of the organic mixture to which I have referred.
This is about as near as we get to a fertilization schedule. During 
the summer there are always some greens needing something extra, 
which is generally a light dressing of compost. Attacks of brown­
patch at times call for a stimulant to assist in the quick recovery of 
the turf. We use sulphate of ammonia only after the greens have 
been injured by a severe attack, applying it dry. Usually we check 
the attack by the use of a commercial mixture of calomel and corrosive 
sublimate before any real damage is occasioned.

In deciding when our greens need fertilization we depend on signs 

May, 1931

111

of slow recovery from heavy play, signs such as lingering ball gouges 
or heel scars. We try to avoid feedings that cause a lush growth and 
heavy clippings. Our heaviest clippings occur during times of spring 
rain. We have no trouble as regards color during the growing season, 
but the turf does go off color a little when the cool weather comes.

In January we shall be the host for a big tournament, and in the 
hope that we may have greens of a good color by that time, we shall 
add our 614-2-0 organic fertilizer mixture, as a further stimulant, to 
the compost top-dressing which we should apply early in November. 
It may be somewhat wasteful to apply such fertilizers in the hope of 
keeping good color through the cold weather ; but should the weather 
warm up again it is likely that a better reaction will be obtained than 
if the compost alone had been used.

The eighteenth putting green of Wilshire Country Club, Los Angeles, Calif.

After a long summer of irrigation we find it necessary to top-dress 
with sand. We use a sharp silica sand free from lime. The constant 
threat of invasion from native clover makes it necessary that the use 
of lime be avoided. We also use a light dressing of charcoal in the 
late fall; this seems to prevent a nasty state of sweating during dull, 
muggy days, and also makes the turf firmer.

We have kept a record of all fertilizers applied since the course 
was built. The record shows that compost has been the main diet, 
blood meal and cottonseed meal next, and mixed fertilizers last. Our 
mixed fertilizers have always been low in phosphoric acid, never more 
than 2 per cent, and very low in potash and lime, simply such as occurs 
in the cow and horse manure in our compost.

In making our compost we use as light a sandy soil as we can buy. 
In years past we also used cow and horse manure; but such manures 
are becoming scarce and expensive in the vicinity of Los Angeles, so 
that we are now using a good grade of steer manure, which runs about 
2 per cent nitrogen. We also use a coarse wash sand from the rock 
crushers. We have no exact proportions of soil, sand, and manure to 
use in our compost. We first put down a layer of soil of about 6 
inches, then about 1 foot of manure, and then 2 or 3 inches of wash 
sand. We repeat the operation until the pile is 6 or 7 feet high. We 

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Vol. 11, No. 5

then cover the sides and top with a 6-inch layer of soil. We leave the 
pile undisturbed for a year. The pile is built on a concrete floor and 
covered with a permanent roof. We keep it moist with overhead 
sprinkler pipes. The second year we turn the pile twice, and the third 
year it is ripe and ready for use.

Readers will perceive at once that we do not favor any popular 
short cuts in greenkeeping nor place any dependence on magic brands 
of fertilizers. Considering the poor character of our soil and the 
results we have obtained, we believe the course we are pursuing in the 
use of fertilizers for our putting greens is a logical one. We can not 
close without giving expression to our appreciation of the unbiased 
service the Green Section has been to us in connection with our prob­
lems and the confidence with which we look forward to its further aid.

Experience With Fertilizers at Plainfield Country Club
By F. J. Roth
Plainfield Country Club, Plainfield, N. J.

The past ten years have witnessed many changes in fertilizing 
putting greens, and a brief narrative of our own experiences during 
the period will doubtless reflect the experiences of many other golf 
clubs. The narrative is of peculiar interest to me, inasmuch as I 
built the course in 1920 and have accordingly had opportunity to wit­
ness the results of different practices under conditions with which I 
am thoroughly familiar. In the end I feel that we have made some 
progress, since the results seem to satisfy our club members at an 
annual expenditure of $25,500 for our 27-hole course.

Our greens are built on a gravelly clay subsoil. Some are slightly 
built up and others are on natural contours. We have on an average 
6 inches of compost for the top layer. Four of the greens are pro­
vided with subdrainage. They were seeded in 1920 with a mixture of 
40 per cent German mixed bent, 50 per cent New Zealand red fescue, 
and 10 per cent redtop. At the present time practically all of the fes­
cue has disappeared except on our No. 1 green, which seems to hold 
the fescue very well. No reason is apparent for this, as the green 
was constructed in the same manner as the other greens. It is strange 
also that with this green we never have any trouble; it requires the 
least amount of fertilizer to keep it in condition. Annual bluegrass 
appears in all of our greens in the spring, persisting until the middle 
of June, when it weakens and is replaced with bent to the extent of 
40 to 75 per cent.

In 1921 and 1922 we top-dressed with compost alone, using one 
yard to a green. In 1923 we began using sulphate of ammonia for 
the effect it would have in reducing the amount of clover in the turf. 
In 1924 we discontinued the use of compost, since we found that our 
compost contained much plantain seed. From that time on we have 
used nothing but mushroom soil as top-dressing material or as a 
medium for the distribution of fertilizers, fungicides, or insecticides. 
During 1925 we top-dressed each green monthly from April until Octo­
ber with i/2 yard of mushroom soil into which 10 pounds of sulphate 
of ammonia had been mixed. In 1926 and 1927 we cut down the 
amount of sulphate of ammonia used, making two applications of 20 
pounds each, one in April and one in October, and during the inter­
vening period of the season used nothing but mushroom soil at the 

May, 1931 

113

rate of yard to the green. Beginning in 1928 we used 15 pounds 
of sulphate of ammonia in April and October in 1 yard of mushroom 
soil. Between these months we used yard of mushroom soil with 
25 pounds of an 8-5-4 fertilizer regularly each month. All told, each 
green accordingly received for the year 125 pounds of the 8-5-4 fer­
tilizer and 30 pounds of sulphate of ammonia, in addition to the mush­
room soil.

In 1929 we changed our program of top-dressing and watched 
the condition of our greens more closely. In April we applied 10 
pounds of sulphate of ammonia with 1 yard of mushroom soil. For 
the rest of the season we top-dressed only when need seemed to be 
apparent. In other words, if a green looked “hungry”—and by that 
I mean very much off color and of stunted growth—we gave it 1 yard 
of mushroom soil and 25 pounds of the 8-5-4 fertilizer. This practice 
has done very well with us up to date and it is our plan to continue 
with it.

My experience seems to indicate that in mushroom soil we have a 
fertilizer of lasting effect and a resultant steady, uniform growth. We 
buy our 8-5-4 fertilizer already mixed. The top-dressing is applied 
by hand, from pails; it is smoothed with a steel mat and lightly 
watered.

For brown-patch, both small and large, we apply calomel and cor­
rosive sublimate every other Monday during the season when the dis­
ease is prevalent, at the rate of 3 ounces to 1,000 square feet. In this 
way we have escaped all injury from the disease.

In Farmers’ Bulletin 1397-F, issued by the United States De­
partment of Agriculture, methods are described for controlling field 
mice, including the destruction of mouse shelters, treating trees with 
repellent washes, inclosing trees with mechanical protectors, trapping, 
and poisoning. Where field mice are destructive to trees or turf 
their control should be undertaken at regular intervals. Inspections 
should be made, especially in fall and early spring, for mouse signs, 
and protective measures taken if necessary. The bulletin may be 
obtained free from the United States Department of Agriculture.

The Use of Fertilizers on Putting Greens
(Continued from page 109)

for making the putting surface true, and with fertilizers for provid­
ing the food necessary for the growth of the grass. For this purpose 
the greenkeeper has available a large choice of thoroughly tested com­
mercial fertilizers. There has been in the past some prejudice against 
the use of commercial fertilizers on the part of many who have clung 
to the preference for so-called natural fertilizers, which were practi­
cally the only ones available at the time of our great-grandfathers. 
The modern farmer and greenkeeper have learned to recognize that 
plants are not influenced by prejudices and are satisfied to get their 
food from any source that is available. The important question is the 
matter of availability, which means, as a rule, whether or not the 
plant food can become soluble in the soil and thus in condition for the 
roots to absorb.

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Vol. 11, No. 5

Fertilizing Putting Greens at Oakmont Country Club
By Emil Loeffler
Oakmont Country Club, Oakmont, Pa.

Our chief aim in handling our putting greens during the past years 
at Oakmont (near Pittsburgh, Pa.) has been centered in keeping the 
foundation and topsoil in the best possible physical condition for the 
production of good turf. In this way a minimum amount of fertilizer 
is required, this resulting not only in a saving in expense of upkeep 
but in keeping the grass in the best condition possible for combating 
disease and adverse weather conditions. In brief, we fertilize only 
when it appears that the grass is in need of a little nourishment.

Our putting greens are 27 years old. They were originally seeded 
with mixed bent and Kentucky bluegrass. For some years after that 
however the turf was mostly annual bluegrass (Poa annua) and Ken­
tucky bluegrass. In recent years the bents have crowded out the 
bluegrasses to such an extent that at present the turf is about 75 
per cent bent. Annual bluegrass is evident only in the spring after the 
greens have been cut several times and put in playing condition, after 
which it gradually disappears.

The new sixteenth putting green on the Oakmont course, Oakmont, Pa.

Our subsoil is clay. A 4-inch layer of topsoil produced by top- 
dressing once or twice a season for the past 15 years has put our 
greens in very satisfactory condition. Our top-dressing material con­
sists of about 60 per cent well-decomposed compost and 40 per cent 
sharp river sand. The sand is quite essential, as it produces a soil 
texture which could not be produced by the use of compost lacking in 
sand. Sand keeps the soil mellow so that water and air can get down 
to the roots of the grass and puts the soil in the best possible condi­
tion for growth. It also makes it possible to hold a ball on the putting 
greens under any condition. Compost keeps up the humus content of 
the topsoil and supplies plant food in a natural way; and this can not 
be effected by the use of fertilizers alone. Top-dressing also helps to 
make a true putting surface. At one time we let our grass grow about 
an inch long in the spring before top-dressing. This resulted in a 
coarse turf which could not be converted to a turf of suitable fineness 
until after a month or six weeks. Now we cut and roll our greens 
several times before applying the top-dressing.

May, 1931

115

We try never to overfeed our greens. We determine the need of 
fertilizer by the way the ball acts on the putting green. If the turf 
loses its nap and the ball is hard to control on a long putt we make an 
application of fertilizer. During the past season all the feeding we 
did was to top-dress the greens once and give them two applications 
of sea-fowl guano at the rate of 40 to 50 pounds to a green.

We believe the most important features in maintaining our put­
ting greens have been good surface drainage, not overfeeding, good 
top-dressing for providing a good topsoil, and keeping them as 
free as possible from worms. Drainage we consider exceedingly im­
portant. Most of our greens do not need subdrainage; they are either 
built up and have perfect surface drainage, or are trapped in such 
manner that the traps serve both as drains and hazards. Our greens 
never winterkill or become water-logged under any conditions.

Fertilizing Putting Greens at Brookline
By Howard D. Farrant
The Country Club, Brookline, Mass.

Our putting greens are bent grass, 19 having been seeded with 
mixed bent and 9 having been planted with the Virginia strain of 
creeping bent stolons. All have considerable annual bluegrass (Poa 
annua). We do not intentionally seed with annual bluegrass for we 
do not like to have it in our greens, but it seems to thrive all through 
this section of the country and has come in of its own accord and is 
especially troublesome in our new greens. The subsoil of our greens 
is mostly clay. The surface layer is a heavy loam, which is being 
steadily improved by the sand which we mix into our compost. Three 
of the greens are drained with a herringbone system of tiling 10 to 
12 inches below the surface; all the other greens have only surface 
drainage.

The greens are not covered during winter, except for the brush 
which we scatter around the edges of certain ones, mostly on the north 
and northwest sides of the green. The brush is allowed to remain as 
late as possible in the spring. It is surprising how beneficial a wind­
break of this kind appears to be, as after the snow has gone in early 
spring the turf that has been thus protected responds as if it had been 
fertilized.

Our first spring treatment is top-dressing. This is done after 
the grass has started to grow, care being taken not to apply the top­
dressing too soon. The time depends entirely on weather conditions, 
but it is generally around the last of April or first of May. The top­
dressing material is compost which has been prepared the year before 
and into which sulphate of ammonia has been mixed, in the loam shed, 
just before the material is applied. One cubic yard of compost is 
used on a green of average size (about 6,200 square feet). Sufficient 
sulphate of ammonia is used to give an application of 5 pounds to 
1,000 square feet. The material is spread from wheelbarrows, by 
hand. The spreading is started at the side of the green opposite from 
the pile of compost left by the truck on the edge of the green. We 
try to select a good drying day on which to make the application, also 
a day when the play is light. The top-dressing is then worked into 
the turf with steel mats, lightly swept with birch brooms, and thor­
oughly watered.

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A second top-dressing is applied alter the turf has made some 
growth, which for us is about the second week in June. The material 
is compost into which poultry manure has been mixed, in the loam 
shed, just before use. One and one-half yards of material, containing 
about 70 pounds of poultry manure, is applied to a green of average 
size.

During the warm months that follow we have no set rule of pro­
cedure. It may be 3 weeks or 7 weeks before another top-dressing is 
applied. If any of the greens look below standard we try to stimulate 
their growth to equal the other greens. The vigor of a green is deter­
mined more by the color of its turf than the quantity of clippings ob­
tained from it, as the latter depends a good deal on weather condi­
tions. During the warm weather we would rather not use a quick­
acting fertilizer unless forced to do so. In such cases a solution of 
sulphate of ammonia applied with a power sprayer at the rate of 3 
pounds to 1,000 square feet gives quick results. However we have 
known this treatment to fail. When this occurs we have at times 
obtained good results from an application of Scotch soot, while two 
of our greens which have occasionally troubled us have been helped by 
an application of lime. We have no set rule to follow in such cases, 
except to test the soil and do what seems to be necessary to keep it 
in a slightly acid condition. During warm weather we have used 
only compost as a tiller for the grass roots. The latter part of Sep­
tember another application of sulphate of ammonia is made. This 
seems to be all that is required to keep the turf in good condition for 
the balance of the year, except that we have in late fall applied bone 
meal, in sand, when the ground is frozen. In general, we try to be on 
the light side in the application of fertilizers and to force the turf 
as little as possible in midsummer.

We are obliged to purchase all our loam for compost. We keep 
a two years’ supply on hand, and this permits us to prepare good 
compost by working into the loam grass clippings, green material 
from the rough, and leaves which have been kept in piles. This mix­
ture is turned every four or five months or spread out in the open and 
turned by plow, the latter process being preferable.

While it is of course necessary in caring for putting greens to 
formulate a fertilization program of some kind, it is not always advis­
able to follow it to the letter. Of equal importance is a diligent ob­
servation of conditions as they develop on the course and the adjust­
ing of one’s program to existing conditions. A program that might 
be successful in one location might be disastrous in another.

Several years ago the United States Department of Agriculture 
distributed a new variety of sugar cane developed from their investi­
gations at Canal Point, Florida. Agricultural scientists are enthused 
over the development of this variety, known as C. P. 807, which has 
shown an increase in yield of nearly a ton of sugar an acre over the 
best of the competing varieties. Considerable loss from diseases al­
most wrecked the sugar industry in Louisiana prior to 1926, at which 
time the United States Department of Agriculture introduced from 
Japan the P. O. J. variety, which was more resistant to disease. The 
new C. P. 807 variety was bred at the Department field station at 
Canal Point, Florida, which was established in 1920 by the Bureau 
of Plant Industry.

May, 1931

117

Fertilizing Bermuda Greens for Winter Play
By 0. Sproule Baker
Boca Raton Club, Boca Raton, Fla.

Of our 36 Bermuda grass putting greens 28 were built up out of 
sand, topped with a mixture of marl, muck, and sand in equal propor­
tions. While their natural subdrainage is very good, their topsoil is 
not of a character that can be expected to produce good turf without 
careful attention as regards its fertilization. Our muck and marl 
soils are notably lacking in the various plant food elements required 
by most plants, but we are having success in supplying these elements 
through an active organic material, activated sludge, used in conjunc­
tion with inorganic fertilizers. Two of the greens were planted with 
stolons and the remainder with seed. We do not use such grasses as 
rye grass, redtop, and bluegrass, for our winter greens, neither on our 
regular courses, our large practice green, nor our 9 pitch-course 
greens.

The activated sludge is applied to our putting greens at intervals 
of 6 to 8 weeks, at a rate of 25 to 50 pounds to 1,000 square feet. An 
ordinary seeder is used for making the application. Sulphate of am­
monia is also applied to the greens, at intervals of 2 to 4 weeks, at 
the rate of 3 to 5 pounds to 1,000 square feet. This is broadcast by 
hand, in the dry state, when applied alone, and properly watered in; 
when mixed with activated sludge, the material is applied with the 
seeder.

In April, near the end of our season, we apply a mixture of 2 
pounds of sulphate of potash, 5 pounds of sulphate of manganese, 5 
pounds of treble superphosphate, and 40 to 50 pounds of activated 
sludge, to 1,000 square feet. We believe the use of a complete mixed 
fertilizer of this kind at the end of the playing season helps the grass 
build up sufficient reserve strength to resist the drought and insect 
attacks of summer. We buy no mixed fertilizers but mix our own. 
In the early fall, at the beginning of the rains, hydrated lime is ap­
plied at the rate of 15 to 20 pounds to 1,000 square feet.

The applications are determined by the vigor and color of the 
turf, time of the year, temperature, moisture, and the requirements 
of play. Our heaviest play is at the time of the year when the grass 
is naturally dormant, a condition which of course calls for suitable 
fertilization in order to prepare the turf for the demands to be put 
upon it. With the exception of 8 of our greens, which were taken 
over from the old Cloister Inn Club, we treat the greens all alike, since 
all have about the same kind of soil and drainage, and none are 
heavily shaded. The 8 Cloister Inn greens give us some trouble and 
call for special attention, due to the layer-like nature of their topsoil 
resulting from their having been formerly top-dressed with layers of 
unmixed materials, especially black hammock sand.

For top-dressing our greens we use a mixture of equal parts of 
muck, marl, sharp sand, and German peat moss. No fertilizer is put 
into this mixture. We apply fertilizer only when needed, and before 
the top-dressing is applied. Sufficient top-dressing material is pre­
pared at a time to dress all of one 18-hole course, this amount giving 
us a good start on the top-dressing crew. The material is fed dry 
through a shredding machine into a sheltered place. It is then passed 
through a mixer of the impeller type, being thrown up through a 
revolving screen against a partition in the upper or feed end. Impact 

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Vol. 11, No. 5

against this partition breaks the material to such an extent that as it 
feeds down the slope of the screen more of the good material comes 
through in the first handling than would otherwise be possible. The 
screening crew loads the finished material into trucks which carry it 
to the top-dressing crew on the green. It is then applied to the green 
with top-dressing machines equipped with a steel door mat 2% feet 
wide by 3 feet long hung from the axle instead of the ordinary brush 
attachment. We follow this operation by dragging steel door mats 
in circles down one-half of the green and back the other half, over­
lapping in a manner much the same as that practiced in penmanship 
when a series of O’s are run together. The dressing is then watered 
in to save the cutting edge of the mower.

Working top-dressing into turf by dragging door mats in circles over a putting green on 
the Boca Raton course

During the playing season we top-dress as required to keep a true 
putting surface, which is at intervals of 2 to 3 weeks. During the 
summer, when the courses are not in use, we top-dress only about 
once in 3 months; this is for the purpose of covering the cuttings, 
which we never remove, since in this manner they are rotted into 
humus, but in quantities not so large as to create heat in the process 
of decomposition. The cuttings thus left on the turf, in combination 
with the peat moss in the top-dressing material, increase the organic 
content of the topsoil and hence keep the soil in a more porous condi­
tion and assist in the conservation of moisture. A dressing of this 
kind is a great help to the heat-loving Bermuda grass. The turf will 
respond to the warmth of the sun more readily when plenty of peat 
moss has been applied, since the darker substance absorbs heat from 
the sun more readily than does the white sand.

The airplane menace to wild fowl grows more acute each year. 
The airman is swifter on the wing than ducks and geese and fre­
quently takes advantage of his fast-flying ability to bag ducks, geese, 
and other game birds. The regulations under the Federal migratory 
bird treaty act make it unlawful to hunt migratory game birds from 
an airplane, and the law provides a fine of not more than $500 or im­
prisonment for not more than six months, or both, for violations. 
Aviators violate this provision every year, however, some in ignor­
ance of the law and some in disregard of it.

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First of all, we must observe that in all these 
matters of human action the too little and the too 
much are alike ruinous, as we can see (to illustrate 
the spiritual by the natural) in matters of strength 
and health. Too much and too little exercise alike 
impair the strength, and too much meat and drink 
and too little both alike destroy the health, but the 
fitting amount produces and preserves them.

Aristotle