The Magic Bullet

[Ben Sims]

I went to the San Antonio Botanical Garden last Saturday, and was very impressed with the turf exhibit on "watersaver lane."  There were perhaps 6-9 turf cultivars on the lawns of several mini-cottages, all donated by Kings Ranch here in Texas.  As I explained to my wife the differences between the various zoysias, bermudas, carpetgrass, buffalo grass, and St. Augustine, I was struck by how utterly inept all the cultivars were as a "cure all" for golf. 

I thought about this for most of the weekend, and it struck me that in today's modern world with modern cultural demands, our expectations have outpaced our abilities with regard to turf.  There are various factions at every course/club that want vastly different characteristics in their turf from fast and firm and brownish, to lush, soft, and able to hold shots.  How does the modern super combat this dilemma?  And what turfs are the magic bullet for golf going forward?

[RJ_Daley]

I think there are enough cultivars within the species characteristics between warm and cool season turfs that the decision makers will get basically what they want.  All is subject to the vagueries of climate and seasonal aberrations.  At the end of the day, it is a market driven thing, IMO.  The market or consumer at one club or public resort, or public or private course, may form a consensus around one particular characteristic of presentation of the turf.  Some will always insist the super provides green, lush, shot holding pudding.  Others, will demand firm fast but green, and others will agree to forego green for fast and firm.  Leadership and information, along with a user of facility mentality that follows a certain ideal, are all factors.

Supers with enough budget can do just about anything.  And, supers with short budgets will try to make do, and please their bosses.  It is a never changing relationship of climate, budget, will of consumer, and talent of super.  Mistakes will be made by all parties concerned, and Mother Nature doesn't make mistakes per se.  She just keeps dealing out the terms of the game and the players keep reacting.

No magic bullets, and no botanical, agronomic, or engineering of water demand solutions will ever be a one solution fits all circumstances approach, IMHO.

[Mac Plumart]

bump

[Tom_Doak]

Ben:

You didn't mention paspalum, which is being sold as a magic bullet in many exotic warm-season locales.  But it is also a very maintenance-intensive grass, from what I've heard.  In the end, it seems that pretty much everything that's developed by the turf industry is maintenance-intensive.  They don't spend any research money on fescue compared to the others.

[Micah Woods]

Ben,

There is a rather simple solution, at least for areas where grass grows (I necessarily exclude deserts). Plant a grass on the golf course that can survive in the wild in that climate. Plant a grass that does not die in the wild in that climate. If that is done, a golf course superintendent can create any type of playing surface, because the grass can be maintained. That is a general principle that works in most areas. Transition zone areas are particularly difficult because too many grasses can grow.

If one has to perform maintenance just to keep the grass alive, that means the growth rate of the grass must necessarily be faster than one might desire from the perspective of playability. By using grasses that do not die, the growth rate of the grass can be controlled as slow or as fast as one desires, thus giving options in playability.


Tom,

I would agree that (at least in East, South, and SE Asia) seashore paspalum is very maintenance-intensive and thus more expensive. Turf-type seashore paspalum does not survive in the wild here. An excellent paper in Weed Science describes how seashore paspalum under low maintenance in Southern China was replaced by manilagrass (Zoysia matrella).

http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.1614/WS-08-124.1

The full paper concludes with a very telling statement:

If there was no intensive management, the seashore paspalum turf would be degraded in 2 or 3 years, just like our survey turf. Because manilagrass originates from southeast Asia, for example, from Guangdong, Hainan, and Taiwan, it is much more adaptive to the soil and climate of Guangzhou in Guangdong province than seashore paspalum (Gou et al. 2002). If seashore paspalum turf was mixed with manilagrasses when the turf was established, it can be gradually replaced by manilagrass under the condition of no artificial weed control, fertilization, or irrigation.

Seashore paspalum in this climate requires supplemental irrigation and fertilizers, which increase the growth rate, which forces more mowing, and more work to control organic matter, etc. If one would just start with zoysia, less fertilizer and water can be applied, and the zoysia does not die, and one can get better playing conditions for lower cost.

[Jeff_Brauer]

Ben,

As I often say, I hear more talk of grass varieties in club boardrooms than I ever heard in college dorm rooms...... 

Grass is what it is.  Occurring naturally, refined for man's use.  Not sure what percentage of genetic change there has been to make Bermuda or Zoysia playable, but suspect its only like 10% and maybe a bit more for bents.  Not sure how much more they can change, but science will probably prove me wrong.  But, for now, the choices are simply favoring heat tolerance, ease of maintenance, genetic diversity vs pure putting surface, etc.  No one perfect choice, but a lot of pretty good ones.

A Facebook friend recently posted this: "Our problem is we eat less food and more food like substances."  I suspect that golf might eventually parrot that, as in "Our problem is we play less on grass and more on grass like substances." 

[Bill_McBride]

Ben:

You didn't mention paspalum, which is being sold as a magic bullet in many exotic warm-season locales.  But it is also a very maintenance-intensive grass, from what I've heard.  In the end, it seems that pretty much everything that's developed by the turf industry is maintenance-intensive.  They don't spend any research money on fescue compared to the others.

Wasn't paspalum introduced as a grass that could be irrigated with salt water in arid locations with access to sea water?  Using less fresh water will be huge in our climate ravaged future. 

I played Forrest Richardson's Links at Las Palomas on the northern shore of the Sea of Cortez in Mexico.  It's wall to wall paspalum which seemed to be a great surface, firm, fast and irrigated with sea water.