Comparison of Fairway Grass Species Options for the Cool-Humid Region.

Golf course managers are continually seeking grasses and management systems to help reduce maintenance inputs, especially supplemental irrigation while still providing persistent, high quality playing surfaces. In the cool-humid region and most of the transition zone there are numerous cool and warm-season species options. In recent years turf breeders have introduced more heat tolerant and cold hardy cultivars and expanding the potential range of use for both cool and warm-season grasses. This four-year field study in West Lafayette, IN evaluated 20 species and cultivars for fairway use at either 12 or 20 mm cutting heights. These grasses were grown in full-sun on a silt-loam soil with minimal inputs; no supplemental irrigation beyond the establishment period, 98 kg N ha-1 yr-1 and no fungicide or insecticide applications. After four growing seasons there was no truly “perfect” turf species, each had weaknesses. For example, the three warm-season grasses, ‘Meyer’ zoysiagrass and ‘Riviera’/’Quickstand’ bermudagrass all had exceptional performance in an extremely dry 2012 summer but suffered substantial winter-kill during winter 2013-2014. There were however some promising options which include: ‘Touche’ and ‘Thermal Blue’ Kentucky bluegrass, and some turf-type tall fescues. Future studies should evaluate additional cultivars, novel species mixtures (e.g. cold-hardy bermudagrass + turf-type tall fescue or Kentucky bluegrass) for their ability to provide a persistent low-maintenance fairway surface as well as their ability to tolerate simulated cart traffic and programs to minimize annual bluegrass encroachment.