It seems many on this thread advocate not fighting Poa on fairways or greens, fescue or bent. Quick question to you, focused less on agronomy and more on what a greeens committee should do focusing on playability. On an 8 year old course with really good bent greens, 17 greens are mostly free of any Poa contamination. One green is 20% covered with Poa. This was the last seeded green, it was done late in the season, and density entering winter was poor.
Treatment with weekly spraying for now 2 summerers has only stopped Poa from advancing, but it has not killed any of it. Which of the following would you suggest:
a. do nothing and allow Poa to advance
b. continue to spray trying out new products
c. kill the green entirely and re seed bent
Maybe none of the above. How about re-turfing?
Once again, I am not a professional, but I did sleep in my own bed last night.
I think the answer to this question is somewhat dependent on location.
Poa annua is so dominant in the Pacific Northwest, I think it would be foolish to start over. At Pumpkin Ridge, fairways and greens are now 80-90% Poa annua, so replanting the greens with bentgrass would last 6-8 years maximum, before another painful transition period to Poa. Besides, our greens are really nice now. They are evolving into a tight smooth stand of grass which can be rolled several times a week during high season. Typically, our greens roll at 10.5-11.5 feet during the summer weekends, which makes our subtly contoured greens come alive. They are even pretty firm in the afternoons, and poorly struck shots will not hold.
Unless you are willing to replant an entire golf course at Bandon Dunes, it makes no sense to fight nature. Without knowing their thoughts on the matter, it seems they are best served by allowing the dominant grass to thrive, once it begins to take over. It's cool in the summer, so the Poa should stay healthy and firm year round.
I've spent a significant amount of time at three modern courses around the country: Kinloch in Virginia, Kingsley in Michigan, and Ballyneal in Colorado. These courses in different areas of the U.S. have all managed to keep the Poa out pretty well. In each case I estimate the Poa population is somewhere between 2-10%. All of these courses have hot summers, and they get the majority of their rain in the warmer months, though Ballyneal's climate is quite arid. In Oregon the rain falls in the cooler months.