Right now I am sticking with A-1/A-4 bent grass. I had four temporary greens this summer but they were entirely the result of human error on our part (a chemical misapplication of the wrong product and at 28x rate
)
Had we not had that error, we would have had some thin and weak greens but no temps.
If I could snap my fingers and have Champion Bermuda or my bent I am not certain what I would do. If I were a high traffic daily fee I'd go bermuda without a second thought. If I had 36 holes, I'd have one bermuda and one bent. With 18 holes and as a small private club I need to look at my unique situation and ask several questions understanding that each grass has its advantages and disadvantages:
1. When is the greatest demand for my course to be in the best shape?
2. What are my members expectations. While I might know that the new ultradwarfs have no grain, are a better economic choice, will hold shots and can be managed to be sofeter or extremely firm, can be painted when dormant........my memer may not want to accept that and their perceptions, are what really drives the bus.
For my course, I think that fall through spring golf is when the course needs to be at its peak and I think with our current bent I can have excellent conditions given a normal year from September 15th through June 15th. There is no doubt that excellent bent putts better than excellent bermuda--no contest.
This year was literally record setting and excellent bermuda in July is certainly better than dead bent BUT I don't think you make a decision based on one or even two years.
Average highs and lows for Atlanta (2-3 degrees warmer than where I am in the burbs) in July is 88 for a high and 68 for a low. The newer bents can absolutely survvive and even thrive in normal Atlanta weather conditions. We have been bent since 1973 and from 1973-2006 it was a very inferior Penncross. Granted, we were not mowing at >115 but the newer bents are much denser and more heat resistant.
If I wanted firm, fast greens for summer and early fall or was hosting events (like a PGA or Tour Championship) then the decision is a no brainer--bermuda. My home course closes in the winter, is a summer club that hosts a lot of state and national championships and I think the Champion Bermuda would be a terrific application there.
Of course, if Al Gore is correct and we are infor decades of sustained temps of 6-9 degrees warmer than historic averages, the choice to switch to bermuda will be made for no other reason than all the bent in the south died with no chance of coming back.
A.G./Gary
My course has seen the removal of about 1,000 trees these past few years and with the exception of one or two small areas I think bermuda could make it OK. We did have Dr. Elsner from CLemson come and do his light studies for some greens and tees and bermuda would be do-able. Of greater concern to me is the severe slopes in my greens. We would have to work pretty hard in the dormant time for bermuda to keep the greens slow enough to be puttable. People forget that bermuda normally goes dormant around the second hard frost in Atlanta (October 25th) and the last frost is around April 15th). Bermuda really has a pretty narrow growth window for us. My super feels that bermuda doesn't really kick into gear until June (green up of course is earlier but I'm talking real growth) and then the plant really slows down by October.
Atlanta is tough and no two courses or memberships are the same.