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A golfer who encountered a 'grass bubble' on the fairway of his local course has caused quite a stir.
The player in question discovered a phenomenon where the turf acts as a water bed as the water trapped underneath causes the surface to become unstable.
Any grass can be subject to this type of activity but it is more common in areas where new grass is being laid regularly.
Common causes of so-called grass blisters include broken water pipes that burst underground, or natural gas building up under the grass.
In this case it appears to have been triggered by heavy rain as the visible pools in the background have been suggested.
If you encounter any of these on the course you should notify the green keeper or appropriate member of staff.
Resist the urge to pop these grass bubbles as this can cause serious damage to the lawn.
They need to be carefully removed from one place and excess water disposed of in a way that will not damage the course.
This issue can be a major problem on golf courses and requires expensive drainage solutions but it is also more common than you might think considering many golf courses are built on wasteland or even reclaimed wetlands.
These types of bubbles often occur when a pocket of trapped water forms under the grass, between the grass and the layer of plastic sheeting placed underground. Plastic sheets can be used in cases where the local soil is very bad – the good soil is dispersed in the plastic, which allows you to place and grow a good, healthy turf. There can be a number of reasons why grass blisters appear, the most common of which is water seeping into the soil.
It is unlikely that a golf course will make extensive use of underground plastic sheeting, but it will certainly not be completely eliminated.
Greywolf Golf Course in Canada once reported a grass bubble that was 18 inches high at its peak, but that event was caused by a burst water pipe.
This practice may have affected golf courses simply because of the space covered by the grass and regular landscaping work.
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