Is Tall Fescue Overdone?

[Patrick_Mucci]

Jim Sweeney,

I don't think it's the height as much as the density that's the problem.

More and more of these areas are being irrigated and instead of having that whispy look, the Fescue is lush and thick.

Some new clubs want to appear to be mature, like they've been there for decades, and as such, introduce Fescue in a lush form to give the appearance of maturity.

Turning off the irrigation would go a long way toward preserving the effectiveness of the look and the hazard without the severe penalty produced by lush Fescue.

[Chuck Brown]

Yep, very good discussion of a very important subject since fescue really does seem to be the new black in golf course architecture.

I was struck that the Kingsley Club seems to have "gotten it" in this regard that last time I was there.

I also tend to think (if I am wrong, I am sure someone will correct me) that these grasses are more easily featured in latitudes where winter interrupts the growing cycle; for some reason I can't think of many southern courses where the fescue idea has been successfully employed...

[Wayne_Kozun]

I think it is overdone - I think Merion is a great course, one of the very best in the world, but my one complaint of Merion is the thickness of the fescue on the course on a few of the holes where it is almost impossible to find your ball, even with a skilled caddy.

[RJ_Daley]

Chris, very nice post and folks should look at your blog.  Well done.

http://northlandgrounds.blogspot.com/

[Jim Sweeney]

Proper locations, proper seed mixes, proper maintenance- all good and logical solutions to the issues brought up in this discussion.

The main point, though, is that we seem, as a sport or industry, to have gone way overboard in our desire to re-create the links look and experience- go back to golf's roots, etc.- where, in many cases, it just doesn't make sense and is a detriment to the game. Bandon Dunes? Chambers Bay? Sand Hills? Absolutely. But a traditional mid-western or eastern parkland course which has neither the maintenance meld history or soil type or any reason other than keeping up with the current fashion to justify installing the stuff? Nothing but poor self image, IMO.

[JR Potts]

Jim Sweeney,

I don't think it's the height as much as the density that's the problem.

More and more of these areas are being irrigated and instead of having that whispy look, the Fescue is lush and thick.

Some new clubs want to appear to be mature, like they've been there for decades, and as such, introduce Fescue in a lush form to give the appearance of maturity.

Turning off the irrigation would go a long way toward preserving the effectiveness of the look and the hazard without the severe penalty produced by lush Fescue.

I think that Pat hits the nail right on the head with this issue.  I've found that in newly constructed courses in the Midwest that employ fescue, the grass is fair and playable for the first several years...after that, it becomes unbearable.  The Glen Club in Glenview, Illinois comes to mind.  There, the fescue is so think that they would be better served digging it all up and making the fescue a water hazard instead.  That way, at least when hitting it two inches into the stuff, I can take my penalty and drop...rather than looking for it in a two sqaure foot area for 5 minutes then having to walk back to where my last shot was struck while adding a stroke.