Will there ever be a Greens Firmness Race?

[Ian Andrew]

You do realize that the end of any race is always death right?

[Ben Lovett]

Jon,
We have A1 bentgrass ( agrostis stolonifera) and do back off certain practices during the summer to ensur a healthy plant going into the summer. It seems as we lose root structure we also loose firmness as the summer goes on

[Jon Wiggett]

Ben,

So if you lose the deeper root system then is the loss of firmness to do with the lack of roots holding this lower rootzone together causing movement and give?

A1 is actually Agrostis palustris and along with a whole range of such was misnamed by the seed sellers when this strain came out so as to make it easier to sell as it would seem more familiar. I doubt many courses use Agrostis stolonifera on greens these days.

Jon

[Ben Lovett]

Ok A1 creeping bentgrass! For me it is multiple reasons with the roots being one, you also have the strong growth habits of the newer creeping bents which if not regularly maintained lead to puffy conditions. As you correctly pointed out the solutions are vertical cutting and coring which would be unwise in times of high heat. I have had good results with primo controlling growth and producing a firmer surface
I would be interested in testing some fescues, I'm not sure how they would fare  in a humid climate?
I know one of the guys tested some fine fescue when overseeding paspalum and had issues transitioning the next year which leads me to believe itS worth at least a test

[Jon Wiggett]

Ben,

the use of primo to control the growth makes sense and I would imagine also means you can reduce the cutting regime thus decreasing the stress levels for the grass. Fescue will cope in a semi arid or arid climate if the rootzone is correct but I do not have a clue how it would cope with prolonged humidity. It would be an interesting experiment though.

I have heard of fescue and paspalum being used on the same course as well though not sure if it was overseeded.

Jon

[BCowan]

I'm curious as to how many keepers have a TruFirm Turf firmness Meter?

http://www.specmeters.com/soil-and-water/soil-compaction/trufirm-turf-firmness/trufirm/