This photo is taken from Waste Managment Pheonix Open, where they are going to great lengths to acheive dark, defined mowing patterns and stripes. You can see they have brushes mounted to the front of the mowers. The idea is to stand the turf up, giving a great cut. This can be done on all turf but can cause damage if it becomes abrasive.
I have written about striping before and thought this would be a good time to revisit the history of it. Striping is nothing more than the result of how light reflects off the leaf blade. Once turf is mowed, it will lay over, if even slightly. The closer cut the turf is, the less striping effect it will have because there is less leave blade for light to reflect off of.
Striping of greens and tees has been done for ages...back to the engine less push mowers at the turn of the century. It is the easiest, quickest and most effective way to mow a green or tee. Fairways, however, didn't start this way. The most efficient way to mow a fairway is the 'light and dark' or 'half and half' method. Pre 1980's, before the lightwieght fairway mower, most all fairways were mowed half and half because it was the only way to turn a large fairway unit. You simply couldn't pick up the reels and turn in the rough. In addition, in the horse drawn gang unit days, the same was true. It wasn't until the 1980's when a smaller unit with hydraulic reels was invented that made the diamond pattern on fairways possible. That said, this is why many historic courses stay with the half and half look... it's a throw back to the golden era of golf courses.
Striping fairways (as opposed to half and half) takes 25% longer, uses 25% more fuel and creates much un-needed stress on the rough turf, including matting it down. However, many members appreciate the looked of "striped fairways." It is very much a subjective look.
The same can be said for tee boxes...Ever wonder while older golf courses tend to have square tee boxes while many new courses have round tees? The answer is history. The orgin of the phrase, 'tee box,' comes from the days when tees were litteraly a square box filled with sand. You teed your ball up with a handful of sand. Therefore, when architects restore historic golf courses, they square the tees up as a throw back to the old days. However, round tee boxes often make for more efficient use of space and are easier to maintain.
In my opinion, nothing says 'old prestigious club,' like square tee boxes and fairways mowed in the light and dark pattern.