Chris,
I have been considering adding fescue to the divot mix we use for clay loam fairways. Is there is variety that you like most? We do about 20,000 rounds of cat traffic a year.
Brad,
We have been using chewings and creeping red in our divots for five years. I started over-seeding the tees and fairways with fescue in 2007 and having been doing so every since. Depending on the area the fescue populations have become very nice.
It seems everyone wants to dog on fescue playing surfaces but those who actually have it in theirs, once you have it you know how good it is. I have been quite fortunate to get to know Tom Mead very well over the past few years. Tom knows fescue fairways better than anyone (Tom Doak and attest) and I have learned a lot from him. Often it is said that fescue doesn't stand up to traffic but Tom says that its is more slow establishment than an inability to stand up to traffic. Seeing what we have seen on our fairways and tees I would agree. A fine fescue surface maintained properly will stand up to cart and foot traffic. What it won't stand up to is the mechanical damage brought forth by many of today's cultural practices. The less aggressive we have been in maintaining the surface of our fairways the more fescue we see. It makes a lot of sense. Remove a core and force the turf to re-establish that area and fescue is going to lose out. Punch a solid tine in the ground and create the hole but leave the turf and the fescue will do just fine.
Concerns about fescue not standing up to traffic are a bit over-estimated in my opinion.