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Low-input fairway species for the cool-humid region

By |  May 27, 2016 0 Comments
Although warm-season grasses like zoysiagrass and bermudagrass did better in a severe drought year (2012), they also suffered major winterkill in winter 2013-2014, and their persistent dormant color may be undesirable to golfers.

Although warm-season grasses like zoysiagrass and bermudagrass did better in a severe drought year (2012), they also suffered major winterkill in winter 2013-2014, and their persistent dormant color may be undesirable to golfers.

The availability of water to properly maintain turf is one of the biggest resource challenges superintendents presently face, and it will present additional challenges for decades. Further, as superintendents evaluate their budgets and maintenance programs to save money, grasses that require less water may be one area that pays dividends.

Most golf courses intensively manage their putting greens, tees and fairways. Of these, fairways represent the largest acreage and greatest potential impact for overall savings. Thus, the species and cultivar being managed will have a large impact on water use.

In the cool-humid region, numerous cool-season and warm-season species are fairway options. Most commonly cultivated, however, is creeping bentgrass. Other species such as Kentucky bluegrass, zoysiagrass, fine-leaf fescue and even some of the newer turf-type tall fescues may have merit.

To explore which species is best for a low-input fairway, we established two fairway trials (1/2-inch versus 3/4-inch mowing heights) in full sun on a silt-loam soil at Purdue University’s W.H. Daniel Turf Research and Diagnostic Center. We planted 20 species and cultivars. They included four creeping bentgrasses, colonial bentgrass, chewings fescue, colonial bentgrass plus chewings fescue, six turf-type tall fescues, three Kentucky bluegrasses, Meyer zoysiagrass, two cold-hardy bermudagrasses and naturalized annual bluegrass.

We grew these grasses with minimal inputs — no supplemental irrigation beyond establishment, 2 pounds of nitrogen per 1,000 square feet per year and no fungicide or insecticide applications. After four growing seasons each species had weaknesses. For example, the three warm-season grasses all had exceptional performance in an extremely dry 2012 summer but suffered substantial winterkill during the “polar vortex” winter of 2013-2014. The bentgrasses performed adequately but not well at the higher mowing height.

Cale Bigelow, Ph.D., is a turf scientist at Purdue University. Reach him at cbigelow@purdue.edu
for more information.

photo by: C. Bigelow

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