Topdressing Greens

There are a multitude of agronomic practices that are routinely done on golf course putting green but few are as misunderstood as sand topdressing.  When golfers see that the greens are being topdressed, you can almost guarantee to hear "the greens were so nice and rolling great, why do they have to do that?" Well, there are a lot of benefits to doing this and here are just a few.  Topdressing helps to greatly improve the smoothness of the greens by filling in small voids that hamper how true the ball rolls.  Sand drains extremely well and resists compaction so if you stay on a consistent light topdressing plan during the season the properties of the soil improves greatly.  It also helps with the suppression of thatch, which is simply debris that builds up over time within the rootzone which increases the likelihood of mower scalping and localized dry spot. These are just a few of the benefits of being on a light topdressing program on a regular basis throughout the golf season.  So, the next time your golfing buddies say, "this isn't necessary or needed", you can proudly say, "yes it is and here is why."

The 2nd green being topdressed yesterday in anticipation of today's rain.

The sand that was applied is no longer visible due to the rain pushing it down into the turf canopy.