BOB WEST ON GOLF: Introducing a golf topic unfamiliar to most – “SAND greens”
Published at 12:06 a.m. on Wednesday August 17, 2022
- Bob West
Okay, golfers, class is in progress. With a tip of the hat to my new best friend from Cincinnati, Chuck Meadors, who wanted me to write about a topic he didn’t know existed, we’re going to discuss SAND greens. That’s right, sand greens.
Without fear of taking risks, I am ready to boldly predict that a mere handful of readers have an idea of what a sandy green is. Beyond that, I would bet big that even fewer players can boast of having made a putt on a sand green. Or even seen one.
So over the next few paragraphs I’m going to try to paint a picture of something golf-related that Tiger Woods would probably make a triple bogey if asked. Trust me on this, because I spent the first 18 years of my life playing sand greens.
Our 9-hole course in Centralia, Missouri would make Groves Pea Patch look like Augusta National. But that’s all we had, all a lot of small towns in the Midwest had. Once upon a time, according to my research, there were even a few sand green courses in West Texas.
I never really understood why they called our putting greens sand because they definitely weren’t green. They were sort of a dirty brown, made that way by the biodegradable oil poured and mixed several times a year to make them easier to put in place and easier to “maintain”.
Most of the sand greens were round, sunken a few feet and quite small. On the bigger ones, you’ll never have a putt longer than 20 feet. Imagine being 150 yards away and aiming at a fairly large sandbox. Or play a 200 yard uphill par 3 – our 6th hole – and try to fly or roll into that trap.
The obvious question to answer at this point is how did you bank on these things. Foot traffic surely made it impossible to roll a ball through all the mounds and depressions on the way to the cup.
Indeed, putting would be impossible without a smooth path from one side of the green to the other. And a heavy T-shaped trail. Oh, yes, and to keep things honest, there was a long string tied around the pin.
You stretched the string to where your approach stopped, then walked the ball around to the putting path and set it down the exact distance from the pin where you were.
The trail was an iron pole about six feet long. Soldered to the end was a circular lead pipe type device about two feet wide. Before putting, you slide the path all the way across the green to ensure unimpeded rolling. Believe me, it was an art to do good flirting.
Depending on the amount of sand on the green, the person dragging can influence the putting speed. Press heavily for a faster putt. Drag it slightly for more sand on the path and a slower ride. Never let an opponent drag the green for you.
If there was a positive thing about sand greens, it was that you could see the break in the footprint of the ball placed in front of you. Yes, the sand greens broke. Not much but enough to influence the outcome from outside 10 feet.
Another factor in scoring improvement on sand greens involved short chips. If your approach came within a few feet or a few feet of length, it was imperative to manually smooth out the sand between you and the hole with your feet.
Start from where you intended to land and smooth out to the putting path area next to the cup. Hit the shot close to your target with excessive ball spin and there was a reasonable chance of making it. Without smoothing the sand, the ball would rarely go in.
It was definitely a different game and a rude awakening for me when I left Centralia. When our high school played matches or tournaments on grass greens, this was a huge disadvantage. It worked in reverse, of course, but few “urban” schools played us in Centralia.
Because there were so many small towns with sand greens in Missouri, there was a state sand greens association and a state sand greens championship. Almost every week in the summer you can play a 27-hole tournament on sand greens in places like Tipton, Vandalia, Shelbina, Montgomery City and, of course, Centralia.
I’ve won my fair share of them. You didn’t want a piece of old Bob on the sand. Do this young Bob.
Class adjourned.
Golf news should be emailed to rdwest@usa.net.
