Comparison of Cultivation Technologies for Use on Creeping Bentgrass Putting Greens.

New cultivation techniques have become popular for use on golf course putting greens, particularly injection of air and dry material such as sand or ceramic amendments. Despite increased use, research comparing the efficacy of these techniques to traditional core cultivation is limited. Research was conducted in 2015 evaluating four different putting green cultivation techniques on ‘Penn A-1’ creeping bentgrass (Agrostis stolonifera)putting greens compared to an untreated control. Treatments included air injection (Air2G2), dry material injection (DryJect), solid tine cultivation with sand topdressing, and hollow tine cultivation with sand topdressing. Hollow tine cultivation was done on a 5 by 5 cm spacing using 0.64 cm tines. Research was conducted on 6 year old putting greens on private golf courses in Knoxville, TN and Elizabethtown, KY. A randomized complete block design with three replications was used. Ball roll distance, surface hardness, and digital image analysis data were collected immediately before and fifteen minutes after treatment application. Hollow tine cultivation and dry material injection reduced ball roll distance fifteen minutes after application, while air injection did not slow down ball roll distance from the control. Hollow tine cultivation plus sand topdressing reduced percent green cover 35% compared to only 3% for an air injection. Air caused less green cover loss than hollow tine cultivation, long-term studies are warranted to accurately determine how these new techniques affect soil properties.