http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,43019.0.html"I have worked with Vesper Velvet for three years. In a mono-stand it could be great.
But once the Poa gets in the trouble begins. We had a lot of Poa and creeping
bentgrass as well. There was a product on the market years ago called tri-calcium-
arsenate which kept the Poa out. It is no longer available. In the spring the
Poa breaks dormancy long before the Velvet does. The Poa grows actively while
the Velvet does not. The result is bumpy surfaces until early May. At right about
the same time the Velvet begins actively growing, the Poa begins to produce
seed-head. So the bumpiness continues for even longer.
Tom, some of your greens, being as wild as they are, may be good with Velvet bentgrass. You would just need to find a superintendent who could manage the thatch through aggressive aeration, etc.. and still keep the Poa out.
Vesper Velvet has the finest leaf texture of any turf I have ever seen. The
only thing that is even close is A1 bentgrass when it is super lean (low N).
We tinkered around with different fertility levels over the years and found the
greens were best with about .12lbs of N every two weeks during the growing
season. I wouldn’t say that is a high fertility level by any means. Managing
our Velvet greens at a high level was like walking a tight rope without a net.
One slip up and you're finished. Velvet does not recover from any injury
(wilt, mechanical, disease) very quickly. We are very aggressive here at
Vesper and we pushed those greens harder than they were meant to be pushed.
There were times when we had great greens (firm and fast, stimping 11 plus).
It was just very difficult to sustain a high level for any length of time. We
cut pretty low (.110) but not super low.
Over the years there were some questionable management practices in place at
Vesper. Topdressing with #2 hardwood sawdust, the lack of any core aeration
and the proliferation of massive trees around the greens just to name a few.
Every time we did a nematode assay the results came back at 2-3 times the
threshold for treatment. Nematode issues were a big problem for us. We
conducted a series of soil physical property tests to see what we were up
against and to tailor our programs accordingly. All of the tests came back with the
same results: low infiltration rates of water and high organic matter
percentages. Not exactly conducive for championship quality greens. The club
was faced with two solutions: Aerate aggressively and frequently or rebuild.
The members chose to rebuild."