Greenskeeper

A Greenskeeper (or Course Superintendent) is a person responsible for the care and upkeep of a golf course or a sports turf playing surface.

Work description and duties

A greenskeeper maintains a golf course's or country club's grounds. This includes all horticultural practices, as well as the setting of pins and marking of hazards for regular club play and tournament play. Greenskeepers work under the direction of the Golf Course Superintendent or Director of Golf Course Operations. For a greenskeeper, experience, and capability are far more important than formal education.

Measuring green speed with a stimpmeter

Greenskeepers measure the "speed" of golf greens with a stimpmeter, which is used to compare green speed within a facility to ensure consistency. Stimpmeter readings are not used to compare one facility with another; many factors including design, undulation, and grass type affect green speed. The tool measures how fast a green allows the golf ball to travel. A greenskeeper can increase the speed of the green in the following ways; mowing the grass shorter, mowing more than once in multiple directions, use of a lightweight roller, or topdressing the green with a small amount of fine sand to alter the putting surface.

Responsibility of setting the pins for play

Setting pins and tee markers are the part of the job that differs from the job of other groundskeepers and horticulturists. On many courses, the pin is moved regularly. When setting or moving the pins on greens, a greenskeeper must think about these factors all together:

* The pin location will affect the golf course difficulty.
* Turfgrass on the golf green wears and tears around the putting hole.
* A pin and hole cannot be legitimately placed at every place on the green.

In most cases, the greenskeeper who sets the greens pins also moves and sets the tee markers. The tee markers are the pieces stuck in the ground that mark the line from which players tee-off or strike the golf ball. If a greenskeeper moves all the tee markers to the back of the tees and also moves all the holes and pins to the back of the green, the accumulation of total yards to cover would be drastically increased.

Almost every golf course is measured and rated according to yards/distance. Because of this, it is wise to keep the cumulative yardage for daily play close to the rating for the course. There is no total number of yards to guide greenskeepers for each day's moving of the pins. It's a judgement call, an estimation.

A course should be measured from the medal plate of the tee to the center of the golf green, following the center of the fairways. The actual distance of the hole may be slightly longer, with a pin at the rear of the green, but golfers should check scorecards or stroke-savers to find the depth of the green to aid club selection.

If a greenskeeper sets several golf greens pins behind the center of the green, it's logical and reasonable to set some other greens pins in front of the green center, on the fairway side.

In similar fashion – not in reference to yardage – some pins should be placed on the left of the green, some on the right, and a few in the center in regard to left and right placement.

For general daily golf play, some pin placements should be easy, some challenging, and some difficult. Pins set closer to the fairway do not necessarily provide an easier shot, especially if there is a bunker (sand trap) immediately in front of the green. In that case, the rear of the green may be the easier pin placement, even though the distance is greater.

Learning the layout of a golf course helps for setting both the pins and the tee markers. If all the tee markers and greens pins are set on the right, that will bring the trees on the right side into play. If all tee markers and greens pins are set on the left, that brings the trees on the left into play.

The trees on the left and right affect different players. Some players “slice” the ball to the right, while other golfers “hook” the ball to the left. A slice or hook are when the ball's path curves in flight after it is hit.

Since some players may chronically hit the ball to the left or to the right, it's only fair to give a near equal advantage to every player. So a greenskeeper should bring trees into play from both the right and left sides of the tees, fairways and greens. This is controlled by the setting and position of the tee markers, golf, green holes, and pins.

As much as possible, a pin should be set in an upright or “plumb” position. Plumb is at 90 degrees to a level or horizontal plane. A golf green pin should not be perpendicular to the green surface because a green surface is not usually level. If the pin is set at a 90-degree angle to what we would consider a “level line”, then a golfer can look down the fairway and see how drastic or how little a green surface deviates from a level surface.

Placing pins is done by feel. Typically, a greenskeeper lets the weight of the cup cutting tool dangle so that gravity makes it vertical, then twists the handles to slice the cutting cylinder into the green. After the tool cuts in, it lifts a cylindrical core out of the new hole. This core of soil is saved to repair the old or previous hole after the cup is snagged and lifted out. Once the old hole is plugged with the soil and turf core, the greenskeeper places the cup into the new hole.

The greenskeeper then sets a round gadget called a cup-setter onto the cup and presses it down. This sets the top of the cup below the green's surface by about according to golf standards. If the cup is located too high, a golf ball may roll into the hole and ride the rim of the cup, then roll back out. By setting the cup down properly, a ball should stay in the golf green hole.

Because the green wears around the hole from daily putting and play, the new green's pin location should be located at least away from the previous one. The wear and tear can mean moving the greens pin daily during summer golf play. In summer, if a pin is left in the same spot for a few days, the turf can be practically destroyed.

It is okay to place a golf hole on a slope, as long as the slope is not too steep. For example, if a ball is putted uphill toward a golf hole and pin, and the ball stops rolling uphill before it goes in the hole, that ball should stop in place and not roll back downhill again. If the ball is hit uphill and then rolls back downhill, that slope is too steep for a golf pin placement.

Various tournaments, men's clubs, and women's clubs may have their rules, but in general, a golf green pin should not be placed closer to the golf green's edge than about .

Other tasks

Other responsibilities that are typically required of a greenskeeper include raking the bunkers, watering plants, repairing divots made by shots, trimming tee boxes, and mowing the entire course.

Right of way

It is forbidden to hit a ball onto the green when a greenskeeper is there unless they clearly motion for you to do so. Generally, golfers have the right of way on a golf course, and workers will wait or yield to players. If a greenskeeper is on the green and the pin is out, however, they have the right of way.

Further reading

Stimpmeter Instruction Booklet
at the USGA.

Guide to building and maintaining putting greens

About the concept of "homeowner" greenskeepers

See also

* Groundskeeping#Groundskeeping equipment
* Turf management#Golf courses

References

{{Golf

Golf people
*
Sports occupations and roles
Horticulture
Lawn care