Sutton's Mix

[Rich M]

I was researching some of the older seed blends, particularly "South German" and "Sutton's Mix". Evidently, Sutton's Mix was used at the Valley Club of Montecito in addition to its well known usage on the greens at Royal Melbourne.


Replicating the original blend of Sutton's Mix may be difficult, but the answer to that secret may be found at the Museum of English Rural Life. They hold the records for Suttons Seeds Ltd. I unsuccessfully searched through their online database, but it seems like the only way to find out would be to go in-person. https://merl.reading.ac.uk/collections/suttons-seeds-ltd/


Supposedly it's comprised of various types of browntop bent (majority), velvet bent (small amount), and creeping bent (even smaller amount). If it contained fescue, it would've been to help during establishment and disappeared after a few seasons.


Over a century later, turfgrass breeding programs have greatly improved their products. It would be fascinating to see how the original blend would perform if the specific types of seed were named in the Suttons Seeds records. Obtaining seeds that were prominent 100 years ago is challenging, although a more realistic option is to utilize samples bred from the original mix.


The following U.S. Department of Agriculture application mentions two browntop bentgrasses that came from Royal Melbourne sampling in 1973. I believe they were "Egmont" and "Sefton", surviving descendants from the original Sutton's Mix blend.


apps.ams.usda.gov/cms/adobeimages/008900219.pdf



Those two browntop bentgrasses are still commercially available. When Royal Melbourne decided to get rid of its 1980's Penncross greens, they brought back something similar to their original greens.  I've managed to track down PGG Wrightson Turf as the only grower of Royal Melbourne's modern iteration of Sutton's Mix. I'm sure they keep it licensed only to their club and Sandy Golf Links.

It might be possible to create something similar using Egmont and Sefton, if the proportions for the other varieties could be located in the Museum of English Rural Life's records.




 

[Niall C]

Rich


You might want to message Tony Muldoon as he's done a fair bit of research on Suttons.


Niall

[Grant Saunders]

The Suttons mix recreated by PGG is the best approximation of what could be produced with the plants available in the  Royal Melbourne greens. Its blend is not divulged


Im not sure if this link to spotify will work for you but Micah Woods discusses Suttons mix in this podcast with Dr Leah Brilman. Interestingly to come out of it is that the DNA of the plants analyised is that some had become a hybrid of creeping bent and browntop


https://open.spotify.com/episode/56tS3ZZmtgWWBTJ45dBKzr?si=bffe8144132f4c84




Also Micah chats in depth with Richard Forsyth the superintendent of Royal Melbourne


https://open.spotify.com/episode/4AE1irTovqQomKXAByX9Wa?si=7bb48e91dd144fc9




Egmont is still widely used in New Zealand where it is bred. Sefton is not used much but can be included in a blend. Manor and Troy are also browntop cultivars that are used in polystands too.


Here is another podcast by Micah Woods discussing browntop management


https://open.spotify.com/episode/5umew9b3cLTnC7uU6EDoGp?si=d7eab17515e9489f

[Neil_Crafter]

Royal Melbourne was not the first and only user of Suttons Mix in Australia. Adelaide based golf course architect Herbert L. "Cargie" Rymill - the designer of the original Royal Adelaide course at Seaton and founder/architect of Kooyonga - advertised his services in a Melbourne newspaper while MacKenzie was here in late 1926. He noted that he was "Agent for Sutton and Son', Reading, Putting-green Mixture, as supplied to Seaton, Kooyonga, Kingston Heath, and other courses." Royal Melbourne didn't start building greens on their MacKenzie-Russell redevelopment until a few years later. Rymill had visited England in 1923 and likely arranged to become an agent for Suttons while he was there.

[Rich M]

Royal Melbourne was not the first and only user of Suttons Mix in Australia. Adelaide based golf course architect Herbert L. "Cargie" Rymill - the designer of the original Royal Adelaide course at Seaton and founder/architect of Kooyonga - advertised his services in a Melbourne newspaper while MacKenzie was here in late 1926. He noted that he was "Agent for Sutton and Son', Reading, Putting-green Mixture, as supplied to Seaton, Kooyonga, Kingston Heath, and other courses." Royal Melbourne didn't start building greens on their MacKenzie-Russell redevelopment until a few years later. Rymill had visited England in 1923 and likely arranged to become an agent for Suttons while he was there.

Thank you for the information. I'm assuming that the other courses you mentioned have since replaced their original turf with newer varieties over the years?

[Rich M]

The Suttons mix recreated by PGG is the best approximation of what could be produced with the plants available in the  Royal Melbourne greens. Its blend is not divulged


Im not sure if this link to spotify will work for you but Micah Woods discusses Suttons mix in this podcast with Dr Leah Brilman. Interestingly to come out of it is that the DNA of the plants analyised is that some had become a hybrid of creeping bent and browntop


https://open.spotify.com/episode/56tS3ZZmtgWWBTJ45dBKzr?si=bffe8144132f4c84




Also Micah chats in depth with Richard Forsyth the superintendent of Royal Melbourne


https://open.spotify.com/episode/4AE1irTovqQomKXAByX9Wa?si=7bb48e91dd144fc9




Egmont is still widely used in New Zealand where it is bred. Sefton is not used much but can be included in a blend. Manor and Troy are also browntop cultivars that are used in polystands too.


Here is another podcast by Micah Woods discussing browntop management


https://open.spotify.com/episode/5umew9b3cLTnC7uU6EDoGp?si=d7eab17515e9489f

The hybridization and turf management practices were quite surprising. I would've thought that they frequently top dressed considering how firm the greens looked during the President's Cup.

[Tom_Doak]

Hmmm, I thought that I had seen the composition of Sutton's mix or the South German mix in some old textbook, but I am unable to find them.


One of the components that I used to see in a lot of old greens was Washington creeping bent grass, which was easily identifiable because of its purplish tint compared to other golf grasses.  I can't remember the last time I noticed it in a green, though.  As mowing heights become ever shorter, more and more of the old grasses are extended beyond their capability.

[Rich M]

Hmmm, I thought that I had seen the composition of Sutton's mix or the South German mix in some old textbook, but I am unable to find them.


One of the components that I used to see in a lot of old greens was Washington creeping bent grass, which was easily identifiable because of its purplish tint compared to other golf grasses.  I can't remember the last time I noticed it in a green, though.  As mowing heights become ever shorter, more and more of the old grasses are extended beyond their capability.

Michigan State University posted the South German mix composition. https://gsr.lib.msu.edu/1920s/1921/210337.pdf

• 5-10%- Redtop (Agrostis alba/Agrostis gigantea) [White bent; insinuated to be a weed in the South German mix]
• 75% or more- (Agrostis tenius) [referred to as "Rhode Island bent"; also known as browntop/colonial bent]
• 15-30%- Velvet bent (Agrostis canina)
• unknown quantities of carpet bent (Agrostis stolonifera) [also known as creeping bent] may appear in some batches.
• Batches varied and velvet bent could make up 40 to 50% of the order.

"Stated briefly, the important characteristics of the South German mixed bent seed are the small proportion of redtop, the large proportion of seed identical with Rhode Island bent, the usually large proportion of velvet bent which comes only in the South German mixture, and the possible presence of seed of carpet bent. This mixture may be contrasted with the Rhode Island bent of the trade which consists of the Rhode Island bent and a variable proportion of redtop; and with the New Zealand colonial bent of the trade which consists of Agrostis tenuis only thus differing from the commercial Rhode Island bent only in the absence of the redtop." F. H. Hillman, South German Mixed Bent Seed Described, United States Golf Association, Mar. 23, 1921 at 37.


Regarding purple colored creeping bent, I had a test plot of MVS Piranha that occasionally turned a shade of bluish purple if I let it grow to 1/4".

[Grant Saunders]

The Suttons mix recreated by PGG is the best approximation of what could be produced with the plants available in the  Royal Melbourne greens. Its blend is not divulged


Im not sure if this link to spotify will work for you but Micah Woods discusses Suttons mix in this podcast with Dr Leah Brilman. Interestingly to come out of it is that the DNA of the plants analyised is that some had become a hybrid of creeping bent and browntop


https://open.spotify.com/episode/56tS3ZZmtgWWBTJ45dBKzr?si=bffe8144132f4c84




Also Micah chats in depth with Richard Forsyth the superintendent of Royal Melbourne


https://open.spotify.com/episode/4AE1irTovqQomKXAByX9Wa?si=7bb48e91dd144fc9




Egmont is still widely used in New Zealand where it is bred. Sefton is not used much but can be included in a blend. Manor and Troy are also browntop cultivars that are used in polystands too.


Here is another podcast by Micah Woods discussing browntop management


https://open.spotify.com/episode/5umew9b3cLTnC7uU6EDoGp?si=d7eab17515e9489f

The hybridization and turf management practices were quite surprising. I would've thought that they frequently top dressed considering how firm the greens looked during the President's Cup.

From what I can gather, Richard speaks about his greens in a way that it seems like he considers them essentially browntop. This makes sense as the physiological differences between browntop and creeping bent would, in my view, make it very difficult for them to coexist in a managed putting surface. Over time, the way the greens are prepared and managed would likely favour one of the grass varieties becoming the most dominant

[Grant Saunders]

Hmmm, I thought that I had seen the composition of Sutton's mix or the South German mix in some old textbook, but I am unable to find them.


One of the components that I used to see in a lot of old greens was Washington creeping bent grass, which was easily identifiable because of its purplish tint compared to other golf grasses.  I can't remember the last time I noticed it in a green, though.  As mowing heights become ever shorter, more and more of the old grasses are extended beyond their capability.

Michigan State University posted the South German mix composition. https://gsr.lib.msu.edu/1920s/1921/210337.pdf

• 5-10%- Redtop (Agrostis alba/Agrostis gigantea) [White bent; insinuated to be a weed in the South German mix]
• 75% or more- (Agrostis tenius) [referred to as "Rhode Island bent"; also known as browntop/colonial bent]
• 15-30%- Velvet bent (Agrostis canina)
• unknown quantities of carpet bent (Agrostis stolonifera) [also known as creeping bent] may appear in some batches.
• Batches varied and velvet bent could make up 40 to 50% of the order.

"Stated briefly, the important characteristics of the South German mixed bent seed are the small proportion of redtop, the large proportion of seed identical with Rhode Island bent, the usually large proportion of velvet bent which comes only in the South German mixture, and the possible presence of seed of carpet bent. This mixture may be contrasted with the Rhode Island bent of the trade which consists of the Rhode Island bent and a variable proportion of redtop; and with the New Zealand colonial bent of the trade which consists of Agrostis tenuis only thus differing from the commercial Rhode Island bent only in the absence of the redtop." F. H. Hillman, South German Mixed Bent Seed Described, United States Golf Association, Mar. 23, 1921 at 37.

I have seen patches of what I was told by an agronomist were likely velvet bent. It was incredibly fine and dense with a deep colour. It was also very puffy and not very receptive to lower mowing heights. I dont think that if it was introduced in a seed blend that it would likely persevere in a polystand under todays maintenance schedules with the desire for low heights being achieved relatively quickly. I think that if it was used in a situation where it could be maintained in a way that allowed it to adapt and go through a mutation process over many years that it could work in a modern putting surface

[Grant Saunders]

The final page of the linked article below discusses the reproduction of the greens grasses

https://issuu.com/pggwrightsonturf/docs/turf-clippings-spring-2011

[Rich M]

Hmmm, I thought that I had seen the composition of Sutton's mix or the South German mix in some old textbook, but I am unable to find them.


One of the components that I used to see in a lot of old greens was Washington creeping bent grass, which was easily identifiable because of its purplish tint compared to other golf grasses.  I can't remember the last time I noticed it in a green, though.  As mowing heights become ever shorter, more and more of the old grasses are extended beyond their capability.

Michigan State University posted the South German mix composition. https://gsr.lib.msu.edu/1920s/1921/210337.pdf

• 5-10%- Redtop (Agrostis alba/Agrostis gigantea) [White bent; insinuated to be a weed in the South German mix]
• 75% or more- (Agrostis tenius) [referred to as "Rhode Island bent"; also known as browntop/colonial bent]
• 15-30%- Velvet bent (Agrostis canina)
• unknown quantities of carpet bent (Agrostis stolonifera) [also known as creeping bent] may appear in some batches.
• Batches varied and velvet bent could make up 40 to 50% of the order.

"Stated briefly, the important characteristics of the South German mixed bent seed are the small proportion of redtop, the large proportion of seed identical with Rhode Island bent, the usually large proportion of velvet bent which comes only in the South German mixture, and the possible presence of seed of carpet bent. This mixture may be contrasted with the Rhode Island bent of the trade which consists of the Rhode Island bent and a variable proportion of redtop; and with the New Zealand colonial bent of the trade which consists of Agrostis tenuis only thus differing from the commercial Rhode Island bent only in the absence of the redtop." F. H. Hillman, South German Mixed Bent Seed Described, United States Golf Association, Mar. 23, 1921 at 37.

I have seen patches of what I was told by an agronomist were likely velvet bent. It was incredibly fine and dense with a deep colour. It was also very puffy and not very receptive to lower mowing heights. I dont think that if it was introduced in a seed blend that it would likely persevere in a polystand under todays maintenance schedules with the desire for low heights being achieved relatively quickly. I think that if it was used in a situation where it could be maintained in a way that allowed it to adapt and go through a mutation process over many years that it could work in a modern putting surface

Dr. Brilman said that velvet bent has a small market and is extremely difficult to grow and cultivate. There might be old velvet (South German related) greens in the New England portion of the U.S. that have mutated to tolerate lower mowing heights, but I doubt they could tolerate the climates outside of USDA zones 1a through 5b and some parts of 6a.

[Neil_Crafter]

Royal Melbourne was not the first and only user of Suttons Mix in Australia. Adelaide based golf course architect Herbert L. "Cargie" Rymill - the designer of the original Royal Adelaide course at Seaton and founder/architect of Kooyonga - advertised his services in a Melbourne newspaper while MacKenzie was here in late 1926. He noted that he was "Agent for Sutton and Son', Reading, Putting-green Mixture, as supplied to Seaton, Kooyonga, Kingston Heath, and other courses." Royal Melbourne didn't start building greens on their MacKenzie-Russell redevelopment until a few years later. Rymill had visited England in 1923 and likely arranged to become an agent for Suttons while he was there.

Yes Rich, long ago replaced.

Thank you for the information. I'm assuming that the other courses you mentioned have since replaced their original turf with newer varieties over the years?

[Matthew Delahunty]

The terms Sutton's Mix may be slightly misleading because it was unlikely to be one consistent blend.  Rather, courses or agents would consult with Martin Sutton or his company as to a suitable seed blend for the particular course and he would recommend a grass type or blend. 


In Melbourne, another club I am aware of that used a Sutton's seed mix was Yarra Yarra which opened for play several years before the courses at Royal Melbourne.   Neil's reference to Rymill suggests that Kingston Heath may have also used a Sutton's mix.


The contemporary newspaper articles of the time refer to both Yarra Yarra and Royal Melbourne green having a combination of fescue and bentgrass, so it cannot be doubted that the Sutton's mix used at RM had a significant proportion of fescue.  Across the road at Victoria GC, their greens were sown with pure fescue.  At some stage later, Victoria converted to bentgrass.  Metropolitan GC also had fescue greens but by the 1930s were transitioning to a mix of bent and fescue. It appears to have been the case that fescue became problematic as a green surface when regular mowing and lower mowing heights became the norm as it was found to not cope with more frequent mowing.  This may account for why the fescue disappeared from the greens at RM and YY.  At RM, Morcom's successor, Claude Crockford, had a vigorous regime of treating the greens with arsenate of lead - that might also have affected some of the grasses in the mix.

[Grant Saunders]

The seed mix is only part of the equation and possibly less relevant than the management techniques used


You could plant numerous courses with the exact same seed spec as the original suttons mix used and end up with a multitude of different surfaces that may not even remotely resemble each other


Im not sure if Dave Wilber is still active here but he would be able to shed some great insight on grass selection as would Chris Haspell

[Tom_Doak]

Im not sure if Dave Wilber is still active here but he would be able to shed some great insight on grass selection as would Chris Haspell

Yes they would.  Part of the reason I know anything about this topic is from the two of them and others like Tom Mead, plus all of the superintendents at the courses where we have consulted over the years.


I saw little bits of velvet bent grass [I think] at several courses in New England back in the day.  Its natural habitat is, basically, Rhode Island.


It makes sense that a lot of the Suttons mix was browntop aka Colonial bent, because as a non-stoloniferous variety, it could form a polystand with the fescue, instead of trying to take over it like creeping bent does.  Dave W tried that on the fairways at Cape Kidnappers, but the Colonial took over instantly, either because of fertility or because the seeding rate for the Colonial was too high relative to the fescue.

[Colin Sheehan]

This has been enjoyable to read.
When I started playing Yale GC in 1993 I remember the greens having those pockets with a purple complexion and later learning it was velvet bent. Prior to the renovation, there was definitely still plenty of pockets of it out there.

Here's the seed choices from the original 1926 construction document:

"The greens are seeded with German Bent and New Zealand fescue. The fairways and tees with New Zealand fescue and Rhode Island Bent. Sheep fescue was sown on many of the batters [sic] and some of the rough. The first seeding of practically all the fairways and greens was done in the early fall of 1924."