Ian,
I don't know if you're trying to really rile up some superintendents, but while you do have some good commentary on the many benefits of a well-maintained predominantly Poa green, many of your statements are way off base.
Where do I even start?
First off, you might need to look introspectively a bit if you're going to start calling out "armchair superintendents." By stating this it seems to me that you class yourself as a much better superintendent than those you denigrate. However, any good superintendent would know that each grass type must be managed differently. Sure, some of the basics are the same. But by no means would a good superintendent fertilize, irrigate and thatch manage Poa greens and Bentgrass greens the EXACT same way, as you claim you would. Let's touch on each point:
1) Bi-weekly foliar fert applications: In case you didn't see my post, I have 90-95% bentgrass greens. Working on Poa greens before, I would spray bi-weekly with foliar ferts. With these greens, I use significantly less nitrogren and once this summer went 5 weeks in between 0.1#N applications with absolutely no detriment to turf health or aesthetic appearance. I could go lower rates and spray more often, but why? I had no flushes of growth and no need to add any more fertility to the mix. Good soil management and knowing your turf can allow you to do that. Why spend money and time on fertilizer if your turf doesn't need it?
2) Bi-weekly soil ferts spray: I don't know exactly what you're referring to here, but if you're just talking about trying to improve soil structure, condition and nutrient holding capacity, I see nothing wrong with this, but again.....its not an absolute necessity. As Adrian mentioned, lower budget clubs with minimal staff can only WISH they could spray bi-weekly.
3) Preventative fungicide apps: Good idea, of course, but I'll state again, using my specific locale and experience, Bentgrass requires much less preventative maintenance. With Poa greens, I would be on a two week preventative rotation for the following diseases: Fusarium, Pink Snow Mold, Fairy Ring, Waitea Patch, and Anthracnose. With my current Bentgrass greens, I sprayed for Fairy Ring, Pythium (because of extrememly unusual conditions of 100+ temps and massive amounts of smoke that trapped the heat and kept the humidity high, otherwise I wouldn't have worried about it all) and Dollar Spot. This property in 7 years has yet to see even a hint of Fusarium, Pink Snow Mold, or Anthracnose.
4) 2-3 guys syringing greens: If you're properly managing your irrigation system, absolutely unnecessary, unless you have serious soil problems and you can't deep water your greens. I've watered deeply and infrequently, 3 days a week, all summer and have only had to handwater greens twice, during 100+ F heat spells. Any more handwatering than that and you're just asking for disease to pop up, as all you're doing is increasing the humidty and total leaf wetness time in the turf canopy, both of which are huge factors contributing to disease outbreaks.
5) Aerifying the same way: Fine, but really should depend more on your soil than the turf. If you have problems with water penetration, you should probably look at deep tine aerification or drill & fill. If you have excessive thatch, you probably need smaller holes on tighter spacing coupled with vertical mowing. Whatever the case, aerficiation should not be based on grass type alone.
6) Broom, verticut & topdress: Itneresting you wouldn't take a different style towards this when Poa is a clump grass and Bentgrass, like Bermuda, spreads by stolons & rhizomes. Would you maintain Bermuda fairways like Ryegrass fairways in terms of thatch management as well?
7) Mowing at the same heights: Possible, though there are definetely engineered strains of Bentgrass that are DESIGNED to be able to withstand lower mowing heights. Poa's a wild card......while some natural strains may be able to take it and are used to it, I would think a Poa accustomed to growing at 0.120 would not take kindly to 0.090.
8} Rolling 4-5 times a week: Once again, no brainer, no matter what grass you have. I have yet to see or hear anyone say anything bad about using rolling as a regular maintenance practice on any greens, regardless of grass type. And once again, hard to do with a low budget, minimal crew. Just shows that you really view this topic as what works best for you and not objectively as to what grass OVERALL, in the majority of golf courses, is better, from a FACTUAL MAINTENANCE perspective AND a subjective playability one.
And if you are absolutely desperate for hard, factual numbers:
I use 90% less manpower hand syringing bentgrass greens vs poa.
I use 50% less time spraying and 50% less money spent on chemicals with Bentgrass greens vs poa.
My bentgrass roots are currently 60% deeper in the soil profile than poa root depth in a similar soil profile, making them better able to absorb nutrients and water.
I've had 50% less instance of disease outbreak with turf damage as a result with bentgrass vs poa.
I've used 33% less nitrogen and 25% less total greens fertilizer costs with bentgrass vs poa.
I've had 200% more compliments on aesthetic appearance, ball roll, turf health and consistancy with these bentgrass greens than with any Poa greens at a number of other courses.
