I recently purchased a new tool that will help us with golf course maintenance decsions. I am the type person that is always looking for quantifiable ways to show the benefits of our turgrass management programs at Highlands CC. Much like the USGA created the Stimpmeter to quantify green speeds, this new tool was developed to measure the firmness of greens, fairways and even bunkers. It measures the depth of impact of a plunger when dropped from a constant height. Theoretically, a concrete surface would read zero, because after the initial contact, there is no impact below ground level. The closer the reading is to zero, the firmer the surface. This allows me, as a superintendent, to compare conditions from green to green and work towards more consistency.
For a short video and more information on this tool, please click the video link below.