Jason,
I can not be certain why you experienced this during your visit. However, I am not sure what parts of the Keilir course you are referring to. Do you mean greens only? What time of year were you there?
Almost all new green plantings here use the same mix:
Festuca rubra var. com, & trich. 90%
Agrostis capillaris 10%
Speeds generally do not vary greatly. The greens tend to be the fastest in and near Reykjavik, the capital, because this is by far the biggest market so the budgets are higher. When the growing season peaks, the greens will play at around 8 Stimp, a little higher in some competitions. They can go higher, but personally I feel that this is quite comfortable and keeps many of the older greens with more pitch playable. While the players are not demanding speeds near 10, I think the supers will try to keep the speeds on the low side and go for turf health.
Some of the older courses with push-up greens, poa dominated, will play quite fast after mid season. In this case, the pitch on the greens is the limiting factor. Examples of this include most of the greens at Reykjavik GC (Old) and Akureyri Golf Club.
Both courses you are referring to have a slight difference in the greens from one nine hole loop to the other. The old nine at Keilir have soil greens. The new nine (the lava course) was built in the mid 90's and the greens there were built with a sand/peat mix of 80/20 percent, close to what the USGA spec says.
The back nine at the Oddfellows course is a few years older than the front. On the older nine, they transplanted native turf that was rich in bentgrasses and used it on the greens. The new nine is similar to the lava nine at Keilir in terms of greens construction and seed.
As an architect, I will of course spec what I know will work, so I more or less go for the above mix. It has been used now for just over ten years and has contributed to enormous improvements in turfgrass management in Iceland.
Unfortunately, turfgrass research is next to paralized in the country. There is definately need for it, especially because of the relatively cool summers. A great many species and varieties are simply ruled out because they will not kick in in these low temperatures. July is the warmest month with an average of 11 degrees Celcius. A decent summer’s day is 15 degrees, rising to just above 20 on the best ones. In the winter, temperatures fluctuate rapidly, so there is repeated freezing and thawing. This is the main threat.
Most of the supers get their education and training from Scotland, and the increase in the number of trained greenkeepers is one other major factor contributing to these improvements. Still, the Scottish winter is quite different from the Icelandic winter. I would therefore like to see the Icelandic supers show more interest in what is being done in parts of the U.S. I understand that winters in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic Region can also have major and rapid temperature swings. Please correct me if I’m wrong. If right, hearing from professionals in this region would be very interesting and helpful.