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Difficulty
Fairway cut
Tight, short, uniform, like you could hit a 7-iron off it. Possible at home, with the right mower and a lot of mowing.
Cut height
0.5 to 1 in
Mows per week
3 to 4
Hours per week
3 to 4
Extra cost per year
$300 to $800
How the course does it
Fairways here are bluegrass, ryegrass, or creeping bentgrass mowed at 0.4 to 0.6 inches with reel mowers three to five times a week. Courses lightly feed every two to three weeks, use growth regulators to slow the grass, and sand-topdress to keep the surface level. A superintendent's crew mows before you are awake.
Mower
Reel mower, powered (greens or fairway reel, $400 used to $2,500 new) or a quality manual reel on a small lawn
How you do it
- Get a reel mower; a rotary cannot cut below 1.5 inches without scalping
- Drop the height gradually, a quarter inch a week, over a month in spring
- Mow every other day in May and June; the one-third rule still applies
- Level the lawn first: a reel mower exposes every bump. Sand topdress in September, then again next year
- Overseed with elite bluegrass or ryegrass; tall fescue will not take this cut
- Feed lightly and often with Milorganite at half rate every three weeks
Works with
Straight talk
This is a hobby, not a lawn. It is doable on a front yard under 3,000 sq ft. The eco route works because the inputs are the same; the limit is your time.