Rye Grasses

[archie_struthers]

 


With the advent of grey leaf et al a few decades ago rye grass fell out of favor to a great degree.  For those  familiar with the new strains that have been developed in the ensuing years that bolstered the breed , can rye become a grass  of choice again ?

[Kyle Harris]

Endophyte enhancements make Gray Leaf Spot a non-issue.

[archie_struthers]

 


Why no love for turf talk , lol. 

[Alan FitzGerald CGCS MG]

Archie


why rye? whats wrong with bentgrass?

[Jimmy Cavezza]

I'm grassing a new range tee this spring and really considering using rye.  I like the look of a bentgrass tee better, but they always get destroyed and eventually rye becomes part of the divot mix.  I think the end result of a rye tee is more sustainable and better looking then a Rye/Bent mix. 

[Greg Chambers]

Why rye?  Blue is a superior turfgrass.  The only advantage rye has is quick germination...otherwise, bluegrass is far superior in every way.  JMHO

[archie_struthers]

See above. 😇😇😇

[Robin_Hiseman]

The leading seed houses are developing rye grasses with much finer leaves for the golf market than would be considered standard. We have elected to use a Rye/Fescue blend for fairways, green surrounds and semi-roughs on my new UK project, for its wear tolerance, suitability to a heavier soil and presentational advantages. The initial seed strike was almost entirely rye, which was a bit alarming, but this acted as a cover crop for the slower growing fescue, which has come through now.

Personally, I still find the blend to be a bit more 'sticky' than I would like for the promotion of firm, fast conditions, especially on the tightly mown green surrounds, but when one is dealing with a heavy clay soil one has to adapt. The lies the golfer will get shall be clean and bristly. Links like they are not, but again I stress, for clay soils the rye grasses have much to commend them.

[archie_struthers]

 




Now we are getting there .  The quick germination of eye grass certainly is appealing in growing cover or as Robin tells us .  For many of us the practice range becomes difficult to maintain , so fast growing divots is a real bonus .


Wondering if the newer rye strains will tolerate the heat better but perhaps that's just wishful thinking ?


Often thought zoysia would be a nice alternative for practice fields , given its inherent toughness . Much prefer it to hitting off mats.  Still doing some research as to any downsides other than keeping it away from the rest of the course. 

[Jason Topp]

Now we are getting there .  The quick germination of eye grass certainly is appealing in growing cover or as Robin tells us .  For many of us the practice range becomes difficult to maintain , so fast growing divots is a real bonus .


Wondering if the newer rye strains will tolerate the heat better but perhaps that's just wishful thinking ?


Often thought zoysia would be a nice alternative for practice fields , given its inherent toughness . Much prefer it to hitting off mats.  Still doing some research as to any downsides other than keeping it away from the rest of the course.

Last year, I hit balls at a course very early in the season that had its tees set up on the range itself rather than the tee box.  I liked that approach because it allowed us to hit off of grass but only damaged turf that would not be used the rest of the year.