ABSTRACT
The playing quality of golf greens is influenced by the way in which the ball interacts with the surface following an approach shot and by the ball roll characteristics during putting. There has been increasing interest in the characterisation of components of playing quality for golf greens, as this produces objectives for both green management and for future research work on golf greens. Techniques to measure green speed have existed for well over forty years, but most of the published work on hardness and ball impacts has been restricted to the last eight years. Both construction materials and grass type have important effects on playing quality and these properties are subsequently modified by management, in particular fertiliser application, irrigation and cutting height. Management operations can bring about not only immediate changes in playing quality, but there are also indirect and longer-term changes caused by modification of the species composition of the sward and this must be considered in any management programme.
