A Soil Surfactant Improves Creeping Bentgrass and Annual Bluegrass Performance Under Traffic Stress and Limited Irrigation.

Creeping bentgrass and annual bluegrass are two important turfgrass species on golf course putting greens that are sensitive to drought and traffic stress in a golf course setting. The objective of this study was to investigate whether a soil surfactant, Revolution, would play a role in promoting drought and traffic tolerance in grass species. Revolution was applied as a foliar spray at  185 mL/100 m² to creeping bentgrass ‘A-4’ and annual bluegrass under three (8, 12, and 16%) target irrigation percentages based on the Rainbird TSM-1 soil sensors in a two year field study. Golf course traffic was applied through the use of a Mayes traffic simulator to represent low (5688 rounds of golf), moderate (11376 rounds of golf) and no traffic (control) that could occur on a golf course putting green in one season. The effect of Revolution on turfgrass quality, normalized difference vegetation index, soil moisture, and localized dry spot was measured. Revolution treated grass species that received the least amount of irrigation (8%) held more moisture than control plots. The high irrigation (16%) and Revolution treated plots held less moisture than control plots. Plots treated with Revolution also maintained better quality than control plots. The results of the study show that Revolution can increase turfgrass quality by increasing soil moisture when water is insufficient and decrease soil moisture when water is excessive.