I had a good conversation with a member regarding stimpmeter readings and how they change throughout the day. Consider the following given our maintenance practices. Our greens are mowed at .120", just under 1/8".
We double cut and rolled on Thursday morning and the greens stimped 12'6".
We mowed again Thursday night. On Friday morning, they were double cut and rolled again. The greens stimped 12'3" at 9am.
At 3pm, I stimped the greens again after they had a full 8 hours to grow. Green speed: 11'2". They slowed down a full foot. After the evening mowing shortly thereafter, they rolled 12'1".
Then it rained. Excess moisture can cause grass to swell, creating more friction and slower green speeds. I didn't have a chance to stimp the greens after the rain but you can bet they were easily a full foot slower.
Green speed really isn't a speed in the liter sense. A speed is Miles/hr, feet/second or km/hour. Green speed is simply the distance (in feet) that the ball rolls off the end of the stimpmeter. The less friction, the farther it rolls or the "faster" the green. Anything superintendents do to reduce friction increases ball roll. This means lower mowing, topdressing, rolling, thinner leaf blades, thinner turf canopy etc. That's why "lush" greens roll slower. Speed can get ugly if you don't know when to back off. A member or club that demands that day in and day out is ignorant (Oakmont tops out at about 9' until late May when turf is actively growing). It is impossible and one day will lead to dead grass. Incidentally, nothing rolls faster than dead or dormant grass! Superintendents need to roll with Mother Nature and learn the limits of the climate and their resources.
