We've all been curious about this

Australia bentgrass firmness OM246 bunker
Micah Woods
Last updated on 2026-08-13 2 min read

I was in Melbourne at the end of last week and had a chance to visit some courses. I went to two courses on Thursday and didn’t record any videos. Then we had an idea over dinner on Thursday night—maybe we should do some Cart Rides on Friday.

And that’s how, with the kind cooperation of the course managers at Royal Melbourne GC, Metropolitan GC, and Kooringal GC, I ended up recording three cart ride episodes in one day.

Organic material at the surface of greens at Royal Melbourne GC is removed by first lifting the bentgrass in thin (7 to 8 mm, about 3/8 inches) pieces, removing the organic layer beneath, and then laying the bentgrass sod back on the green.
Organic material at the surface of greens at Royal Melbourne GC is removed by first lifting the bentgrass in thin (7 to 8 mm, about 3/8 inches) pieces, removing the organic layer beneath, and then laying the bentgrass sod back on the green.

These aren’t long videos, but they are informative, and show a snapshot about species selection, turf management, bunker edge management, playability, irrigation challenges, and so on in the Melbourne area.

If you want more about firmness, remember that there is an Office Hours episode of more than 90 minutes duration on the topic: Firm bentgrass greens and OM management with Richard Forsyth.

I don’t want to give too much away about firmness, because I want you to watch the videos and learn from those conversations. But I will say that I have been reflecting on the topic for a long time, and trips such as this one certainly helped enlighten the subject for me even more. One of the maintenance practices that leads to firmer surfaces is an avoidance of decompaction. The soil needs to be decompacted enough so that one can maintain 100% grass cover. Any decompaction beyond that point is softening the surface without enhancing playability—unless it’s softer surfaces you are after. Another maintenance practice that leads to firmer surfaces is an avoidance of routine topdressing. But there are a lot of interactions with that practice—surface organic material being a primary one—and I encourage everyone to monitor their surface organic material with OM246 measurements while also keeping track of exactly how much sand is being applied.

Related Posts

Previous