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How many strokes do you lose playing aerated greens?


iacas
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10 members have voted

  1. 1. How many strokes do you lose (or gain) playing aerated greens? Assume they're like the photo in the first post.

    • I shoot better scores on aerated greens.
      4
    • I shoot about the same on aerated greens.
      36
    • I shoot a few strokes higher on aerated greens.
      44
    • I shoot several strokes higher on aerated greens.
      29
    • I shoot much higher scores on aerated greens.
      4


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I was going to add that the aeration grid has actually helped me get lag putts on line it seems, but the biggest issue is the sand.

Rich C.

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... and sand is not evenly applied which makes it tougher to get the speed right on longer putts.

If it's done right, they spread the sand, then drag a screen across the green to push the sand into the holes and even it out.  My home muni does it this way, and I just figured that this was how they all did it.

Rick

"He who has the fastest cart will never have a bad lie."

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Quote:

Originally Posted by rkim291968

... and sand is not evenly applied which makes it tougher to get the speed right on longer putts.

If it's done right, they spread the sand, then drag a screen across the green to push the sand into the holes and even it out.  My home muni does it this way, and I just figured that this was how they all did it.


That may be so.   I suspect that sands get shifted over time, parts of green recovers from aeration at different rate, etc..

When green condition is too poor due to aeration, I just take two putts and move on.

RiCK

(Play it again, Sam)

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Fourputt

Quote:

Originally Posted by rkim291968

... and sand is not evenly applied which makes it tougher to get the speed right on longer putts.

If it's done right, they spread the sand, then drag a screen across the green to push the sand into the holes and even it out.  My home muni does it this way, and I just figured that this was how they all did it.

That may be so.   I suspect that sands get shifted over time, parts of green recovers from aeration at different rate, etc..

When green condition is too poor due to aeration, I just take two putts and move on.

People walking on them will shift them as well.

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Quote:

Originally Posted by rkim291968

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fourputt

Quote:

Originally Posted by rkim291968

... and sand is not evenly applied which makes it tougher to get the speed right on longer putts.

If it's done right, they spread the sand, then drag a screen across the green to push the sand into the holes and even it out.  My home muni does it this way, and I just figured that this was how they all did it.

That may be so.   I suspect that sands get shifted over time, parts of green recovers from aeration at different rate, etc..

When green condition is too poor due to aeration, I just take two putts and move on.

People walking on them will shift them as well.

Boy, you people sure have a different experience than I do.  Walking on them shifts the sand?  We aren't talking about a bunker.

Rick

"He who has the fastest cart will never have a bad lie."

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Boy, you people sure have a different experience than I do.  Walking on them shifts the sand?  We aren't talking about a bunker.

Yeah, I'm with you. No idea what lihu is talking about here. Further, like you, my (limited) experiences on recently punched greens have shown that the sand is pretty even and almost entirely within the holes. Luckily, down here it's usually easy to avoid courses with aerated greens because there are so many choices.

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Lihu

Quote:

Originally Posted by rkim291968

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fourputt

Quote:

Originally Posted by rkim291968

... and sand is not evenly applied which makes it tougher to get the speed right on longer putts.

If it's done right, they spread the sand, then drag a screen across the green to push the sand into the holes and even it out.  My home muni does it this way, and I just figured that this was how they all did it.

That may be so.   I suspect that sands get shifted over time, parts of green recovers from aeration at different rate, etc..

When green condition is too poor due to aeration, I just take two putts and move on.

People walking on them will shift them as well.

Boy, you people sure have a different experience than I do.  Walking on them shifts the sand?  We aren't talking about a bunker.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fourputt

Boy, you people sure have a different experience than I do.  Walking on them shifts the sand?  We aren't talking about a bunker.

Yeah, I'm with you. No idea what lihu is talking about here.

Further, like you, my (limited) experiences on recently punched greens have shown that the sand is pretty even and almost entirely within the holes.

Luckily, down here it's usually easy to avoid courses with aerated greens because there are so many choices.

They over sand some of the holes on the course, and when people walk around (or scrape their putter along the green or something like that) they collect the sand in bumps here and there. As it is not really a loose impediment, I don't try to flatten them. The greens are pretty nice now, so I can't get a picture for you two.

BTW, I lose strokes because the conditions are so different from hole to hole and uneven roll. The sand also sticks to the ball in the mornings when I play. I'm sure that has some effect on the ball.

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Lihu

As it is not really a loose impediment, I don't try to flatten them.

Where did you ever get that idea?

What one of the older players told me is that it is part of the green condition.

The way it was explained to me was that if the sand was bunched up by either a putter or a shoe it would be the same as if a spike mark or a "gosh darn mark" were left on the green, which you can't fix until after playing the hole.

If it was random sand placed there by another player I could remove it as it would be considered a loose impediment.

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Golfingdad

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lihu

As it is not really a loose impediment, I don't try to flatten them.

Where did you ever get that idea?

What one of the older players told me is that it is part of the green condition.

The way it was explained to me was that if the sand was bunched up by either a putter or a shoe it would be the same as if a spike mark or a "gosh darn mark" were left on the green, which you can't fix until after playing the hole.

If it was random sand placed there by another player I could remove it as it would be considered a loose impediment.

Note the sentence I bolded:

Quote:

Loose Impediments

“Loose impediments’’ are natural objects, including:

stones, leaves, twigs, branches and the like,

dung, and

worms, insects and the like, and the casts and heaps made by them,

provided they are not:

fixed or growing,

solidly embedded, or

adhering to the ball.

Sand and loose soil are loose impediments on the putting green, but not elsewhere.

Snow and natural ice, other than frost, are either casual water or loose impediments, at the option of the player.

Dew and frost are not loose impediments.

There is nothing there to place a limit on when sand is or is not a loose impediment on the green.

Rick

"He who has the fastest cart will never have a bad lie."

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Lihu

Quote:

Originally Posted by Golfingdad

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lihu

As it is not really a loose impediment, I don't try to flatten them.

Where did you ever get that idea?

What one of the older players told me is that it is part of the green condition.

The way it was explained to me was that if the sand was bunched up by either a putter or a shoe it would be the same as if a spike mark or a "gosh darn mark" were left on the green, which you can't fix until after playing the hole.

If it was random sand placed there by another player I could remove it as it would be considered a loose impediment.

Note the sentence I bolded:

Quote:

Loose Impediments

“Loose impediments’’ are natural objects, including:

stones, leaves, twigs, branches and the like,

dung, and

worms, insects and the like, and the casts and heaps made by them,

provided they are not:

fixed or growing,

solidly embedded, or

adhering to the ball.

Sand and loose soil are loose impediments on the putting green, but not elsewhere.

Snow and natural ice, other than frost, are either casual water or loose impediments, at the option of the player.

Dew and frost are not loose impediments.

There is nothing there to place a limit on when sand is or is not a loose impediment on the green.

:doh: , okay.

That could also explain why I dropped 1.3 putting strokes as the greens became "normal" again last month. :whistle:

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"I'm hitting the woods just great, but I'm having a terrible time getting out of them." ~Harry Toscano

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I suppose a question should be asked do you think it's worth paying the same price for your round of golf if it was aerated as well.

It's a necessary part of the process of maintaining a golf course, I just don't like it when the golf course operators keep it a secret and you're treated to a course that is under maintenance AND they charge you full price for it.

And for me I do miss some really easy puts on aerated greens.  Nothing is perfect even my swing, I just don't want to blame the course for my problems, when I really have to figure out what I am doing wrong with my swing in the first place.  In other words, why do I have to be concerned about one more thing in my golf game?

Vic aka Ringworld aka Community Director at Greenskeeper.org aka All Around Nice Guy.

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I find that my scores don't change much on aerated greens. But it probably comes into play for some players. I played with a buddy this fall who isn't a bad player but he has zero confidence in his chipping and will sometimes putt from way off the green. He is a 16 handicap but, the way he strikes the ball, he should be a 10-11 and the chipping really holds him back. Never gets up and down.

He noticed right away that day that he could hit his chips solidly right at the hole and they would stop on the aerated greens. He ended up breaking 80 for the first time in his life and shot 78, but he refuses to count it on his bucket list because of the aerated greens.

And a guy who has won our club championship multiple times tied our course record on aerated greens. I have never asked him what effect he thought it had, but I will now.

Bill M

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I played aerated greens for the first time this year (4 times total), every single time I shot some of my lowest scores.

The only thing I can attribute the low scores to is the fact that those rounds were all played in the same month...a month I was playing very well in anyway.

and

I tend to be a very aggressive putter, instead of the ball going 5-6 feet past the hole, now they were only going 2-3 feet past.

Joel Holden

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If I include the periods where I need to learn to putt again after the greens have healed again, I would say close to 3 months of terrible putting. IMO, putting is one of the easiest skills to lose. The irony is that I am pretty good at playing pool.

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"I'm hitting the woods just great, but I'm having a terrible time getting out of them." ~Harry Toscano

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  • 4 months later...

Honestly, I feel like it cost me a couple strokes, but I'm sure I've also been a touch off on a couple putts that have rolled in.  You know how perspective works - "I made that because it was a good put and I missed it because it was aerated."

I don't take my score serious on aerated greens - I use it as practice time to dial in yardages and to work on other things...

JP

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This is the season in SoCal for Aerations.  I am surprised most folks don't notice a difference.  Quite honestly the holes do affect roll because they are holes and even holes filled with sand affect the path of a putt.  Heck even the way the grass is cut and the thatch underneath will affect ball roll and direction.

The real problem I have with aerated greens is that golf courses typically -- especially the ones in LA do not disclose their maintenance schedule.  You literally have to pry it from their dead cold hands.  You get the standard response, "Everything is fine."  The other problem I have with spending my money for higher-end daily fee golf courses is you feel cheated.  Be honest with yourself, would you pay top dollar even Golf Now top dollar just for the privilege of playing on aerated greens?  Ok if I know beforehand, I know what I am getting myself into, but it's never a good surprise.  Like I said, you feel cheated.  Well maybe perhaps not YOU in general.... me myself, and I feel cheated.

Luckily I know a site that let's me know.  But that is a different story.

Vic aka Ringworld aka Community Director at Greenskeeper.org aka All Around Nice Guy.

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Note: This thread is 2396 days old. We appreciate that you found this thread instead of starting a new one, but if you plan to post here please make sure it's still relevant. If not, please start a new topic. Thank you!

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