Jim, Shel - from The Lurker (which I edited slightly, in case some of the content was meant for private reading only):
"It became evident to some early golfers, designers, greenkeepers etc, who were all obviously pretty clever, observant and even scientifically minded, that it was not just the topography and coastal sandy soil structure of the early linksland sites that were God given, but it was actually the unique natural grasses that prospered thereon that were probably God's greatest gift to golf.
The fact is, in and on what were the original "swards" (early natural linksland fairways) of linksland sites only two natural grasses could survive thereon (and apparently had been prospering thereon for millennia). Those two strains were agrostis (bent) and festuca (fescue), still today two of the primary grasses used for golf and ideal for golf.
But why were those the only two naturally occurring strains on early linksland swards that could survive and prosper? It was because they were the only two that could survive and prosper in highly acidic soil (therefore they had little to no natural competition).
The nuts and bolts of agronomy and botany has always scared me, but it seems the original ("natural") swards (fairways) were somewhat concave in shape which thereby collected alluvial deposits out of the common river(s) that dumped into the linksland, but mostly those areas were where birds commonly nested and probably most significantly, where they shitted (apparently creating much greater soil acidity).
This is a great subject, and it is important today with some recent initiatives of particularly the USGA known as "Maintenance Down the Middle." It can be done quite successfully in places like Pinehurst (Pinehurst #2 in the 2014 US Open) but not necessarily on sites that are far more clay/loam and consequently far less acidic.
[The question is] how exactly that particular maintenance practice could be translated and transferred onto golf courses with entirely different soil structure such as thick and harder clay/loam sites; of course, climate is part of this as neither bent or fescue has ever done particularly well in extreme heat (particularly sub-top turf soil heat)."
And from me, another question: we know that many of the top rated golf courses in the world are built on sand; but with only a few exceptions (eg Sand Hills), I thnk most of those top rated, sand-based courses also happen to be in climates that allow for year round play. Is that a coincidence?
Peter