Should the PGA Become the Bermuda Grass Major?

[Jason Topp]

In tennis, the majors are in part defined by the unique court surfaces associated with each event - grass for Wimbledon, Clay for French and the hard court for the US Open and Australian.


With the move to May, it strikes me that the PGA could further carve out its own identity by becoming the Bermuda grass major.  The US Open is rarely if ever played on Bermuda.  The game is decidedly different on Bermuda.  Bermuda is the surface for many of the courses in the Southern half of the US.  Certain players play their best on the surface.


May is a risky time to play on bent grass courses - winter damage is unlikely to be fixed by that time of year.  May is a bit cooler than the height of summer, making a southern location more palatable. 


It is clear the PGA is not taking this approach with its announced future venues but should it do so?

[BCowan]

I'd prefer the Cups to be played in Oct on dormant bermuda!  Pinehurst 2 would be mint 3rd weekend of October. Southern hills first weekend of October

[Tom_Doak]

The change of dates gives the PGA the option of going north or south.  Having options increases your chance to make good deals.  I doubt they'd want to step back and limit themselves by eliminating northern courses from the conversation; but I'd put money on some southern courses being among the next venues announced.

[JESII]

May in Philly has been great the last several years...not sure about Boston and across to Upstate NY and the Upper Midwest but the Mid Atlantic region is better in May than July and August.

[A.G._Crockett]

I like the idea, but it'll either have to be the deep South or very late May.  Bermuda grass doesn't green up until soil temps reach the upper 60's for an extended period, and it's often well into June before all of the areas on a bermuda grass course have greened up AND until you're 100% sure about any winter kill that might have occurred.  Even in a warm and early spring, the rough wouldn't be much to get excited about in May.

Actually, the traditional date for the PGA would have been a better fit for what you are talking about; not only would you have near perfect course conditions for tournament golf, but you'd also have intense heat so that those guys could play under the same conditions that we do!  And THAT I would love to see...

[TAG]

Would be interesting to see if a specific player/playing style could be successful enough to be associated with the surface... Nadal and clay obviously comes to mind. Any hint of this from the current Florida swing?

[Matt_Cohn]

Would be interesting to see if a specific player/playing style could be successful enough to be associated with the surface... Nadal and clay obviously comes to mind. Any hint of this from the current Florida swing?

Bay Hill, Innisbrook, and PGA National are all overseeded for their events, so almost no data to go on.

[Anthony_Nysse]

I'd prefer the Cups to be played in Oct on dormant bermuda!  Pinehurst 2 would be mint 3rd weekend of October. Southern hills first weekend of October

Southern Hills has bentgrass greens.


Depending on location, bermuda can be a little beat on or slower to wake up if the weather doesn’t help. Think of the Byron Nelson and/or Colonial-we had to really push the grass just to have enough rough for a PGA Event.

[David_Tepper]

"Would be interesting to see if a specific player/playing style could be successful enough to be associated with the surface.."

TAG -

It may just be folklore, but legend has it Tom Watson never won a (regular tour) tournament in Florida putting on Bermuda. Not sure if he had any success in Florida on the senior tour.

DT

[A.G._Crockett]

"Would be interesting to see if a specific player/playing style could be successful enough to be associated with the surface.."

TAG -

It may just be folklore, but legend has it Tom Watson never won a (regular tour) tournament in Florida putting on Bermuda. Not sure if he had any success in Florida on the senior tour.

DT

I would imagine that Watson's regular Tour career predated the newer bermuda hybrids like Champion.  The difference in putting between the newer bermudas and the old is far bigger than the bent vs. Champion difference today, especially at Tour speeds.

[BCowan]

I'd prefer the Cups to be played in Oct on dormant bermuda!  Pinehurst 2 would be mint 3rd weekend of October. Southern hills first weekend of October

Southern Hills has bentgrass greens.


Depending on location, bermuda can be a little beat on or slower to wake up if the weather doesn’t help. Think of the Byron Nelson and/or Colonial-we had to really push the grass just to have enough rough for a PGA Event.

I see you are trolling me again.  They have Bermuda fairways and rough which makes up 90% of the grass on the course. 

[Anthony_Nysse]

I'd prefer the Cups to be played in Oct on dormant bermuda!  Pinehurst 2 would be mint 3rd weekend of October. Southern hills first weekend of October

Southern Hills has bentgrass greens.


Depending on location, bermuda can be a little beat on or slower to wake up if the weather doesn’t help. Think of the Byron Nelson and/or Colonial-we had to really push the grass just to have enough rough for a PGA Event.

I see you are trolling me again.  They have Bermuda fairways and rough which makes up 90% of the grass on the course.

No trolling, Ben. You mentioned Pinehurst and SH in the same sentence regarding fall golf. I assumed you implied all bermuda surfaces.

[A.G._Crockett]

I'd prefer the Cups to be played in Oct on dormant bermuda!  Pinehurst 2 would be mint 3rd weekend of October. Southern hills first weekend of October

Southern Hills has bentgrass greens.


Depending on location, bermuda can be a little beat on or slower to wake up if the weather doesn’t help. Think of the Byron Nelson and/or Colonial-we had to really push the grass just to have enough rough for a PGA Event.

I see you are trolling me again.  They have Bermuda fairways and rough which makes up 90% of the grass on the course.

No trolling, Ben. You mentioned Pinehurst and SH in the same sentence regarding fall golf. I assumed you implied all bermuda surfaces.

I would add, fwiw, that we're now in the third week in November, and nothing at Pinehurst is dormant yet.  Two years ago, the bermuda didn't go dormant in central NC until well into January, and December is now pretty typical.  Some of you may have noticed that the planet seems to be warming just a bit; the bermuda grasses in the southeast certainly have noticed!

In fact, there was a discussion here about Hope Valley overseeding in the winter of 2015-16, which wasn't the case; the bermuda was still green well into the new year!  The green up in 2016 was more or less standard, so that year the bermuda was only dormant for about three months.

All of THAT said, why anybody would want to aim for tournament golf on dormant bermuda, even if the date for dormancy was at all predictable, is beyond me.  Conditions on dormant bermuda can get pretty spongy pretty quickly, divots don't grow back in, collars get really hit-or-miss in terms of playability, and so on.  If dormant bermuda is dry, that's one thing, but the lack of root action makes dryness elusive, and certainly NOT something a super and his crew can control.

And, of course, the bermuda greens are dormant, too; lots of courses paint them green for cosmetic reasons thru the winter.  Also, many courses with bermuda greens now have just three hole locations for the dormant months; one front, one middle, and one back, with the two not in use covered with a plastic cap, because old cups don't heal and you have scars all over the green all winter.  Duke and Tobacco Road are two examples of this.  But again, controlling green speeds and conditions on dormant bermuda greens becomes problematic.

In short, if you want a "bermuda grass major" including the greens, then leave the PGA where it's been, and play it in the South in August. 

[A.G._Crockett]

Heck, if we're doing a fantasy thread about majors we'd like to see, I'll take the "Bermuda Grass Major" one step farther:

Play it in the deep South in August.  With no caddies. With the players carrying their own bags and getting their own yardages.  And no galleries to deflect their errant shots, and no volunteer fore caddies to find their ball; TV only.  With four inch rough all around the course. 

Now THAT would be a championship!