A neophyte’s notes on rolling the green

As bowling greens in the Bay Area go, Berkeley is looking pretty good. We enjoy bowling on a fast rink and our green attracts dual members from across the Bay Area. It’s hard to overstate the energy and dedication required to keep the green in good shape. Take, for instance, rolling the green to improve its speed and consistency. Our current crew of Greenskeepers have been selflessly performing this task multiple times a week and my introduction to the process this week reveals that it is far from trivial.

On Monday, six green rolling newbies (Cris, Charlie, Mark, Glenn, Philip, and Janine) attended the first of three training sessions led by Greenskeepers Janie and Patricia. The goal is to have a trained team who assume green rolling duties by the end of the year. 

We are currently using an older gas-powered roller, but will soon receive a new electric model from Australia. Rolling the green involves several steps. Arriving at 8 AM, the process begins with a walking inspection of the green. It’s important to clear debris, often dropped from neighboring trees, from the green so that it doesn’t get embedded in our turf by the rolling machine. On some days, this is a quick process but on others, say after a brisk wind, it could be a two-hour job. Nevertheless, it must be done before rolling and it makes sense to have two or more people in the rolling crew.

Rolling proper begins with opening up the equipment shed, hauling out the roller, and making notations in a small logbook about direction and date of rolling. After a close inspection, the somewhat heavy roller is then wheeled onto the green through a gap in the backboard. The machine is lowered onto the green by carefully rotating a big yellow frame. One then adjusts the choke and throttle to start the machine’s engine, and then rolling begins.

As one sits on the roller, it moves left and right perpendicular to the body position of the operator. This takes a bit of getting used to. It also has a turning radius that is wider than that of an automobile. So maneuvers to change direction require some forethought. The roller is first run around the perimeter of the green where tolerances in missing the ditch are tight. It is then reversed back-and-forth in parallel paths to cover the entire green surface. This requires approximately 80 passes and can follow an orthogonal or diagonal pattern depending on the day’s bowling direction and prior rolling.

Driving the machine is challenging at first, but also kind of fun. Not fun is stopping to clear thatch that accumulates on the rollers. When the rollers pick up debris, the machine must be stopped, turned off, tilted back onto its transport wheels, and carefully cleaned by hand which requires (for me) lying on the ground to reach underneath. On good days this might happen once or twice, after a verticutting session it might happen a half dozen times (groan.)

I have come away from my inaugural training with great admiration for the effort our Greenskeepers have put into their rolling program to date. It’s a good thing that we have folks signing up to help out for this aspect of greenskeeping alone is a significant job. Here’s a pat on the back for those who have volunteered.