"The grass is so tight that overseeding becomes a problem and most have resorted to painting. And that is some FAST stuff. " Mike Young.
Mike,
I see not overseeding as a benefit of the hybrids, even at Jeff's heavily contoured greens at GSW. The Supt. does cut them a bit higher for a month or more before they stop growing, and he pours lots of water (way too much for my taste) which seems to keep them a bit slower.
The two transition periods of bermuda greens is my biggest objection to that grass, though I think that most superintendents, under pressure to keep costs down, don't verti-cut, groom, light-sand, and roll the greens enough. By not overseeding, the transitions seem to have been minimized somewhat.
The hybrid bermudas have been sold to some clubs down here as a much lower-cost maintenance alternative to bent. There could very well be a differential, but in talking with a few supts., most opine that to approximate the performance of bent (it cannot be matched), the hybrids can be/are nearly as expensive.
The paint on green which have not been overseeded is primarily for aesthetic reasons. Our greens have been painted in part to hide the fungus damage (it hasn't worked) and the chemicals used to fight the disease. If we have a cold, dry winter (not likely at this time), I wonder if we will be putting on dirt come March.