How to Mow Golf Course Greens

A perfectly manicured putting green is the canvas for golf’s most delicate moments, where championships are won and friendly bets are settled. The meticulous process of mowing a golf course green is a blend of art and science, a daily ritual that shapes everything from ball speed to the break of your most important putt. This guide walks you through the professional techniques, specialized equipment, and core strategies that superintendents and their crews use to produce those flawless putting surfaces you see on TV and at your local club.

Why Mowing is About More Than Just a good Looks

Walk onto any professionally maintained putting green, and you'll immediately notice the difference. The grass feels like a dense carpet, and a well-struck putt rolls smoothly and predictably. This experience isn't an accident, it's the direct result of a highly specialized mowing regimen. While a beautiful, aesthetically pleasing surface is one goal, the primary purpose of mowing greens is to optimize playability.

Playability on a green comes down to two main factors: speed and consistency. Golfers yearn for a "true roll," which means the ball travels on its intended line without getting knocked off-course by bumps, imperfections, or unruly blades of grass. Consistent mowing creates a uniform, upright stand of turf where every blade is cut to the same precise height. This uniformity is what allows the ball to roll smoothly across the surface, maintaining its speed and line.

The speed of a green, often measured using a tool called a Stimpmeter (or "stimp"), is also directly controlled by mowing. A lower cutting height reduces the friction on the ball, allowing it to roll farther and faster. The superintendent’s job is a constant balancing act: cutting the grass low enough to achieve desirable speeds without stressing the turf to the point of damage. Think of it less as simply cutting the lawn and more as preparing a professional sporting surface, much like grooming the infield dirt for a World Series game or perfecting the ice for The Stanley Cup Finals.

The Right Tool for a Perfect Cut: The Reel Mower

You can’t create a flawless putting green with the same rotary mower you use on your lawn at home. The powerful, spinning blade of a rotary mower is designed to chop through thick grass, but its tearing action would be catastrophic for the delicate, high-density turf on a green. Enter the reel mower, the undisputed champion of golf course mowing.

A reel mower doesn't tear the grass, it cuts it cleanly, like a pair of high-quality scissors. This machine features a series of helical blades that spin on a horizontal axis. As the mower moves forward, these blades trap the grass against a stationary "bedknife" at the bottom of the unit, producing a precise, surgical snip. This clean cut is far less damaging to the grass plant, promoting healthier turf that is more resistant to disease and stress.

There are two primary types of reel mowers used on greens:

• Walk-Behind Mowers: These are single-unit mowers that the operator walks behind. They are prized for their precision and light footprint, which minimizes compaction on the green. Many high-end courses prefer walk-mowers because they give the operator a superior feel for the contours of the green and enable more precise control, leading to a perfectly consistent finish.
• Riding Greens Mowers (Triplex Mowers): These are larger, riding machines with three independent cutting reels. A "triplex" is far more efficient, allowing a single operator to mow multiple greens much faster. While modern triplex mowers are incredibly advanced, with floating heads that follow every undulation, they are heavier than walk-mowers and can require more skill to operate without causing marks or minor inconsistencies.

Regardless of the type, the most important element of any reel mower is its setup. The blades must be sharpened to perfection - a process called grinding - and adjusted with microscopic precision. A common test for superintendents is the "paper test," where they ensure the reel and bedknife can cleanly snip a single piece of paper along the entire length of the blade. If it can’t cut paper cleanly, it’s not ready for the green.

How Professionals Mow Greens: Height, Frequency, and Patterns

Superintendents combine the right equipment with disciplined techniques to create playing surfaces that meet the demands of golfers. This technique is a system built around three pillars: mowing height, daily frequency, and strategic patterns.

Cutting Height: A Game of Millimeters

The height of cut on a golf green is astonishingly low. While your home lawn might be mowed at 2 to 3 inches, a putting green is typically maintained at or below one-eighth of an inch (0.125"). For tournament conditions, that height can drop even lower, sometimes approaching levels like 0.100" or even 0.090".

This tiny measurement is the primary lever for controlling green speed. Lowering the height by just a few thousandths of an inch can dramatically increase the stimp reading. However, this comes at a cost to the plant. Such a low cut reduces the blade's surface area available for photosynthesis, making the turf more vulnerable to heat, drought, traffic, and disease. It's a fine line that requires constant monitoring and complementary practices like watering, fertilization, and rolling to keep the plant healthy.

A Daily Ritual: Mowing Frequency

To maintain that precise height and uniform surface, most golf course greens are mowed at least once every single day, typically in the early morning before play begins. Some high-end clubs or courses hosting tournaments will even double-mow, cutting the greens a second time in the afternoon or evening. At the highest level of professional golf, greens are sometimes mowed, rolled, and then mowed again before a competitive round.

This daily cutting ensures that any new growth is immediately removed, preventing the grass from laying over and creating "grain," which can influence the direction and speed of a putt. Consistent, daily mowing trains the grass to grow in a more upright, vertical fashion, which is the key to a true roll.

Line by Line: The Importance of Mowing Patterns

The beautiful stripes you see on a green are more than just cosmetic - they are direct evidence of a sound agronomic practice. Greens are almost never mowed in circles. Instead, they are cut in straight, linear passes. The pattern itself (stripes, checkerboard, half-and-half) is intentionally varied each day.

Changing the mowing direction daily is enormously important because it prevents the grass from "learning" to lean in one particular direction. If a green were mowed from front-to-back every single day, overtime it would develop a strong grain in that direction, causing putts hit into the grain to be slower and putts hit down-grain to be much faster. By rotating the direction - for instance, front-to-back on Monday, left-to-right on Tuesday, and at a 45-degree angle on Wednesday - the blades of grass are encouraged to grow vertically.

A typical mowing process looks like this:

1. The First Pass: The operator makes a single, very straight pass across the green, often using a background reference point like a tree or bunker edge to stay on line. This pass sets the direction for the rest of the green.
2. Subsequent Passes: The operator then makes subsequent passes next to the first one, slightly overlapping the wheel tracks to ensure no thin strips of uncut grass (known as "mohicans" or "misses") are left behind. They continue this across the entire green.
3. The Clean-Up Pass: Once the main body of the green is mowed, the operator makes one or two final passes around the entire perimeter. This "clean-up pass" cuts any grass missed during the turns and gives the green edge a crisp, finished look.

Secrets from the Superintendent's Greenkeeping Playbook

Mastering the basics is one thing, but achieving elite course conditions requires a few extra touches that separate the good from the great.

• Mowing Dry Turf: Whenever possible, greens are mowed after the morning dew has evaporated or been removed. Wet grass blades don't cut as cleanly and can clump together, leading to a messy, uneven finish. Crews will often use a heavy hose or a switching pole to knock the dew off the grass before the first mower goes out.
• Rolling for Smoothness and Speed: In addition to mowing, greens are often rolled with a lightweight, specialized roller. Rolling doesn't cut the grass, it simply smooths the surface, gets rid of any small imperfections, and firms up the green. This can increase green speed without having to lower the cutting height, thus reducing stress on the plant. Mowing and rolling together make a formidable combination, especially for tournament prep.
• Clipping Management: Reel mowers on greens are always operated with the collection baskets on. Removing the clippings is essential, as leaving them on the surface would block sunlight, trap moisture, and lead to disease issues. The volume of clippings collected also serves as excellent feedback for the superintendent about how quickly the turf is growing.
• Avoiding "Scalping": "Scalping" occurs when the mower cuts too low over a mound or ridge, essentially shaving the turf down to the soil. A skilled operator has a deep understanding of every slope on their greens and knows how to lift or adjust the mower heads gently to prevent scalping, which can take weeks to heal.

Final Thoughts

Mowing a green is a process of precision, patience, and deep horticultural knowledge. Each pass of the mower is a deliberate move designed not just to trim the grass, but to refine a playing surface, ensuring the consistency and truthfulness that the game of golf demands.

Understanding the immense care behind a perfect putting surface can bring a new level of appreciation for playing the game. When you’re looking to turn that appreciation into better course management, our Caddie AI acts as your on-demand golf expert. You can get instant advice on how to read different green speeds, snap a photo of a tricky lie for a recovery recommendation, or get strategy on the best way to approach the flag - helping you play with the confidence of a pro on any course.