Felton, Inc. Aids in Greens Maintenance for 2011 PGA Championship

Felton has announced that itsrecently developed technology for turf care will play a pivotal role in thegreens preparation for this year’s PGA Championship on August 8-14at the Atlanta Athletic Club.

Tyler Andersen, 1st Superintendent … Highlands Course at the club, which will host the 2011 PGA Championship along with numerous other tournaments this year, has been using Felton products on his greens mowers since last summer.

“They’re just phenomenal,” Andersen says. “We’re trying to achieve the densest, most playable, most grainless grass possible‚[this] is now one of our most-utilized practices on a daily basis for the management of our Champion ultradwarfbermudagrass. The Diamond Zoysiagrass tees are known for their graininess, and these have been marvelous at removing the grain and creating a ‘tabletop’ surface. There’s nothing like it. It’s definitely the future in grain management ofultradwarfbermuda- and bentgrass.”

In collaboration with industry experts, Felton has developed this line of unique, application-specific grooming tools…leveraging their expertise in advanced materials, product design, and custom manufacturing…to help course superintendents throughout the United States make significant improvements in the way they care for their greens.

Historically, high-end mowers have utilized thrermoplastic bristles to lift grass blades for an improved cut, but because they were in front of the rollers, the grass was often matted down again before it was cut. Felton’s new technology resolves this issue with a specially designed bristle pattern located ahead of the bedknife (not the roller) and rotating away from the reel in order to clear debris and stand grass up for a cleaner, more uniform cut.

“This assembly helps control grain in grass, which in turn affects the way the ball putts,” says Felton Business Unit Manager Fern Beaudet. “Ideally, golferswant there to be no grain. These assemblies are the closest you can get.”

Scott Freund, South Golf Superintendent, Cherokee Town & Country Club in Roswell, Georgia, says the Felton assembly makes everyday cutting of his course’s bentgrassmore manageable. “They help me maintain a higher height of cut,” Freund says. When you can do that and still keep green speeds up, that’s less stress on the grass.”

Ultradwarf grasses, which are considered “stoloniferous grasses” by those in the industry,are preferred because their shorter rhizomes lead to faster ball speeds. Grooming every few days helps improve stolon management and enables cleaner cuts, andthat means balls roll through the grass more easily.

John Davis, Director of Agronomy atSecession Golf Club in Beaufort, South Carolina and President of the Carolinas Golf Course Superintendents Association, says using Felton bristle technologies and assemblies as part of the cutting assembly provides a truer, more consistent course for the players at his national membership club.

“Since we started using these, we’ve increased our green speeds at least a foot,” Davis said.

“We are really excited to be part of this advancement in grooming greens,” says Felton President & CEO Dan Boehm. “We listened to a lot of bright people in the turf care industry, applied the knowledge we’ve gained over more than 30 years in this marketplace, and designed a solutionthat can be manufactured in a consistent, cost-effective manner. This is the type of collaborative, systematic approachwe strive for in all of the markets we serve‚and when it comes together like in this case, great results happen.”

Felton Inc. is a leading manufacturer of highly engineered assemblies for a range of industrial applications. The company serves an array of markets, including automotive, aerospace, agriculture, business equipment, turf care, and commercial door seals and transportation. The Londonderry, NH enterprise offers a technically advanced platform of design, manufacturing, machining, and assembly capabilities; together these enable a truly turnkey manufacturing model.

Maryann DiBenedetto mdibenedetto@feltoninc.com
(603) 425-0257