Sod vs. Hydroseed

[Dave Duevel]

It's been interesting to see how some courses currently under construction have been going about the grassing process. It looks like the Lido is mostly all hydroseed, whereas Lost Rail and Landmand seem to be heavy on the sod, with some hydroseed mixed in.


For the experts, or those with expert opinions, what besides cost are the major determining factors for choosing each method? Just curious to see how everyone does things a little different.

[Ben Hollerbach]

One big factor is the length of the growth season.


Landmand's decision to go with sod was heavily influenced by the short seasonal window they have in putting the grass down. Laying down sod allowed them to get to a playable state within one growth season, while seeding may have taken 2 full grow in seasons before the turf would have been playable.

[John Emerson]

Another big factor is slope of the ground. You’ll never see bunker faces seeded.

[Tom_Doak]

Sod is vastly more expensive than hydroseed.  There may be some places where it makes sense -- very exposed sites, or very short seasons, or some types of turf like zoysia where sodding is the only realistic option because they take forever to mature.  But in 40 courses I have yet to work in one of those places.

[Tom_Doak]

Another big factor is slope of the ground. You’ll never see bunker faces seeded.

I've seen it 30+ times.  As long as you've kept surface drainage from going over the faces, hydroseeding is usually fine.  Or maybe you think the bunkers at Pacific Dunes and Old Macdonald and Barnbougle and The Loop are all crap?

[Ben Sims]

Tom,


Doesn’t hydroseeding allow the construction team to “protect” the shaping quicker too? Especially in sandy and windy locations?


An aside, wasn’t Streamsong sprigged? If so, were there any concerns about the sand moving before the areas could be sprigged?

[John Emerson]

Another big factor is slope of the ground. You’ll never see bunker faces seeded.

I've seen it 30+ times.  As long as you've kept surface drainage from going over the faces, hydroseeding is usually fine.  Or maybe you think the bunkers at Pacific Dunes and Old Macdonald and Barnbougle and The Loop are all crap?

Where did I say anything was “crap”?  Must’ve missed that one.  I ha e never done hydroseeding on steep faces of bunkers. Only on mild slopes, due to the gully washers that come through my part of the world.  Sod with staples is a bit more time consuming and expensive, but it holds during downpours.  Congrats on pulling it off.  In the mid Atlantic I have never seen it done.  I’m sure it’s possible on less severe slopes.  Sounds like you had some luck and were able to pull it off.  Congrats.

[Tom_Doak]

Where did I say anything was “crap”?  Must’ve missed that one.  I ha e never done hydroseeding on steep faces of bunkers. Only on mild slopes, due to the gully washers that come through my part of the world.  Sod with staples is a bit more time consuming and expensive, but it holds during downpours.  Congrats on pulling it off.  In the mid Atlantic I have never seen it done.  I’m sure it’s possible on less severe slopes.  Sounds like you had some luck and were able to pull it off.  Congrats.

But how many new golf courses have you built?  I understand, on an existing course, most clubs want to sod to get the place back open faster.  But the pumped-up bluegrass sod they use is often a maintenance problem for a couple of years afterward, and it looks unnatural.  At Pacific Dunes, with mostly undisturbed seeded faces, wildflowers and other natives came back into the mix.


Sebonack was 100% hydroseeded.  I think a little bit of The Legends was sodded, because it's hard to spring on the steepest bunker faces, but 97% of it was sprigged.  We did sod bunker faces on the first course at Stonewall, but I can't remember if we did on the second course.  Pretty much every new course we've done since Pacific Dunes was hydroseed, wall to wall.

[Anthony_Nysse]

Where did I say anything was “crap”?  Must’ve missed that one.  I ha e never done hydroseeding on steep faces of bunkers. Only on mild slopes, due to the gully washers that come through my part of the world.  Sod with staples is a bit more time consuming and expensive, but it holds during downpours.  Congrats on pulling it off.  In the mid Atlantic I have never seen it done.  I’m sure it’s possible on less severe slopes.  Sounds like you had some luck and were able to pull it off.  Congrats.

But how many new golf courses have you built?  I understand, on an existing course, most clubs want to sod to get the place back open faster.  But the pumped-up bluegrass sod they use is often a maintenance problem for a couple of years afterward, and it looks unnatural.  At Pacific Dunes, with mostly undisturbed seeded faces, wildflowers and other natives came back into the mix.


Sebonack was 100% hydroseeded.  I think a little bit of The Legends was sodded, because it's hard to spring on the steepest bunker faces, but 97% of it was sprigged.  We did sod bunker faces on the first course at Stonewall, but I can't remember if we did on the second course.  Pretty much every new course we've done since Pacific Dunes was hydroseed, wall to wall.

Other than selected areas that were "chunked," Friars Head was all seeded. I don't see how you can really get the look you want for that style with sod. Too many cool things can happen with seeding that were not intentional. 

[archie_struthers]

 


I have seen some instances where grow in crews sod the roughs in areas and seed/hydroseed the fairways.

[Don Mahaffey]

John, there are some pretty amazing hydromulch varieties on the market. We once hydromulched in Neb in late September and used the best mulch we could get. We got hit with a thunderstorm and a 2” downpour in short time. On one green complex up against dune there was wash outs above the mulch and below it but nothing that had been mulched moved on the green or green side bunkers.   It’s expensive but for erodible areas or late fall seeding the good mulches are worth the cost.