Paspalum greens at Kiawah

[aliikane]

The paspalum greens at Kiawah Island look like they were just pure. The announcers kept saying how durable they were and how they didn't even leave much of a ball mark. They look like they were rolling perfect.

 

Why don't more courses use Paspalum greens? They seem to be the perfect grass for greens.

[Jim Clark]

I believe The Ocean Course uses Paspalum everywhere (tees, fairways, and greens, not sure about rough). It's because of its resitance to salt water damage. It can even be watered using "brackish" water. The pros and commentators both said the greens were rolling very pure. I believe it is a form of Bermuda but has less grain on the greens.

[Willie Malay]

Probably the cost.

[inthefairway]

It could be the start of something for other courses to catch on to!!!

[lumberman2462]

I have to admit that I'd never heard of paspalum before this week. I asked the greenskeeper at my club and he said it's a good, hardy grass but that it only works best in certain areas and that it can be "finiky." According to him, if you don't have a topnotch greens crew, it can be hard to maintain consistent green speeds. Looked good on TV.

[golfingron]

I've played on three courses in Florida with Paspalum and the conditions and playability are amazing. By far my favorite surfice to play on. The fariways are lush and the ball sits up excellent. The greends do roll very true and look beutifull, I think Bent rolls better but Paspalum is great. It is very hardy but two of the courses I plaid had issues with Bermuda creeping in which required additional attention.

Great grass and excellent playing surface!

[philsRHman]

When I was in Kauai, the courses down there were all talking about converting, but none were ready to play on when I was there. On TV they said that it won't grow north of a certain point, and that Kiawah was about as far north as you could go.

[JWells]

The ocean course costs aroud $250 a round so I unless my local course wants to up the price I dont think they will start breaking out the carpet like fairways and greens

[ghromas]

I was recently at the May River Golf Course in Palmetto Bluffs, and the guys there said paspalum is the most "eco-friendly" grass. Doesn't require much fertilizer, and survives harsh conditions including brackish water.

[ElVerde]

I heard it automatically replaces its own divots AND ball marks.

but seriously...those greens did look beautiful.

[hebron1427]

Is this what Carl spackler was developing? This stuff dies EVERYTHING

[smoky25]

Used by the Atlanta Braves on the infield at Turner Field. Said to be "slower" than the previous 419 infield.

[jdhallissey]

It rolls pure, it holds onto well, very little marks left on the green if any at all. The issue is speed. They are hard to get to the speed the pro's like. For not having much grain it grabs balls very well.

[aliikane]

I am always impressed and appreciative of superb greens because you can sink so many more putts. I play a lot courses with bad greens where it is almost more luck if you roll one in than skill. Good greens are always attributed to really good greenskeepers that know their stuff. Who knows, maybe they will start using paspalum more often at more courses.

[dpb5031]

I live in the Northeast and go on an annual golf trip to the Dominican Republic where the course we play is 100% paspalum. It is a nice looking turf, and a great fairway surface, but the greens are very grainy and generally slower than the bent grass greens we are used to. My guess is that scientists will develop improved versions of paspalum over time.

[dpark]

When I played the Ocean Course earlier this year, I was not overly impressed with the greens. They were definitely STICKY but as for speed and pureness of roll, they weren't super fast and didn't think they rolled that much better than a nice bent or poa green. We played at 830am and didn't know if they cut or rolled that morning. They were good greens but weren't great greens.

I think the main benefit of the grass is that it thrives with the salty sea air. As for the course itself, it wasn't very enjoyable. Don't care for Pete Dye courses in general as they are too tricked up for my tastes, but was fun to look at my course guide and scorecard as they played their round to see what they did on certain holes.

[teejaywhy]

[quote name='jdhallissey' timestamp='1344916047' post='5467074']
The issue is speed. They are hard to get to the speed the pro's like.
[/quote]

Not that anybody should care about that.

[jdhallissey]

lol speed is a big issue on the tour. The pro's expect a certain speed for all there tourney's and the majors are normally faster except normally The open. when greens are slower you see a lot of guys missing putts or forcing putts. Tiger is a good example ( i hate tiger but I can back him here) Faster greens are easier to putt on when they roll true. The minute you hit the line they go in. The slower the green the more you have to hit the ball.

Going to the general public people suck to much at golf to speed them up so the rest of us are stuck with them too. One of the players caddies stimped the greens on weds and said they were the slowest they played on all year.

Also if I go drop 250 a round the greens better be above what I pay around were I live. Normally when I pay money to play a good course I am paying that money for how good there greens are. I am playing a trip down at the end of Sept and will be pissed if they are slow and bumpy.

[teejaywhy]

What I'm saying is the recreational golfer SHOULDN'T care what the pro tournament golfer thinks about the greens (or any other aspect of course design or setup for that matter).

Because the green speed is slower relative to the typical pro tournament green speed does not mean the green is slow. And a slower green is not necessarily a bad green.

While I've never played on Paspalum, for sure, warm season grasses like Bermuda will never be as pure and fast as a bent green.

[Shemp]

Paspalum ismore a "weed" than a grass. I first played on it about 10 years ago. They install it by shredding clumps of it and spreading it over the prepared surface. It is a really durable surface that resists divots and ball marks and crowds out weeds. It can be maintained with "gray water" or high salt content water. It only likes warm weather and they haven't been able to develop a cold tolerant strain yet. Driving on it with a cart is a really weird feeling, the cart "shimmys" because there is no grain.

It's a beautiful surface that takes some getting used to, but I think over the next few years more and more southern courses will resurface with it due to the water issues.

[mozgolf]

Didnt they comment that the Paspalum fairways did not play like a traditional grass. In that while Kiawah looks like a links course you can't play it like one as the pitch and run shots wont run!

I think there is a big difference between the Paspalum used on the greens and the thick matted stuff that gets used on fairways

[gr00vetech]

I live in southwest FL and we have a lot of courses right up against swamps. Quite a few courses have made the switch to paspalum. Everyone raves about the way the ball sits up in the fairways but the way it plays around the greens is a big trade off. Green speeds can't match the tiff eagle and champion Bermuda greens of a lot of the clubs in the area. Touch shots around the greens are also very difficult because of how "sticky" the approaches and fringes play.

[MendonGolfer]

Seems like it has a lot of positives. Paspalum revolution?

[Fourmyle of Ceres]

I would respectfully suggest that anyone wishing to play golf on fine bent and fescue grasses growing on links turf ought to stay at least 1,000 miles from Kiawah Island. Those wonderful cool-weather maritime grasses will not live in a South Carolina barrier island climate.

The Ocean Course ain't a links course, it ain't build on linksland and it ain't grassed with links turf. Criticizing it for that fact is like criticizing Florida for not having mountains.

[Shemp]

[quote name='mozgolf' timestamp='1345554648' post='5508758']
Didnt they comment that the Paspalum fairways did not play like a traditional grass. In that while Kiawah looks like a links course you can't play it like one as the pitch and run shots wont run!

I think there is a big difference between the Paspalum used on the greens and the thick matted stuff that gets used on fairways
[/quote]

Paspalum can be cut from 1/8" to 4". The course I played on had the same paspalum on greens, fairways, tees and rough. All cut to different heights. It is a very "sticky" grass, and does not play at all like links grasses.

[Fourmyle of Ceres]

They do use two slightly different varieties of Paspalum on the Ocean Course but you'd never notice any distinction when playing there.

I love playing on a breezy 60-degree high-latitude summer day on those amazing fescue/bent/poa mixes that occur naturally on links courses. Nothing like playing on great link turf.

But I love playing at the Ocean Course almost as much. Totally different turf but still an amazing playing surface. And it's 60 degrees and breezy in December instead of in June!

[joec65]

Palpalum is short for Seashore Paspalum. It has been used on courses since the 1990s, in limited area. Recently more courses have begun to use it as more refined strains have become available. Generally if you hear a grass name that has "sea" in it, it is a strain of Paspalum, eg: Sea-isle 2000, Sea-dwarf, Sea-way. There are many others also; Salam, Aloha, etc.

As already noted, the ability to use lower quality of water and the resistance to weeds are benefits. With the recent ban of the herbicide MSMA, (brand name: Weedhoe, ....) many more southern courses will be looking at Paspalum to avoid the intrusion of weeds (goosegrass, crabgrass, ...). With Paspalum, some salt sensitive weeds can be controlled with the use of plain salt or a salt based solution.

With some of the newer strains available, and as cultivation practices become better, the quality of Paspalum greens should increase significantly.

As the acceptance of the golfing public of Paspalum increases, it will become much more common for courses to convert to this grass as it presents many positive.

[Ranger Rick]

I imagine it plays quite similar to Kikuya? Very sticky, thick grained, ball sits up nicely. We have Kikuya rough and fairways here in Johannesburg with bent greens but I believe there are some courses down by the east coast which have Paspalum.

[joec65]

[quote name='Ranger Rick' timestamp='1346537292' post='5571991']
I imagine it plays quite similar to Kikuya? Very sticky, thick grained, ball sits up nicely. We have Kikuya rough and fairways here in Johannesburg with bent greens but I believe there are some courses down by the east coast which have Paspalum.
[/quote]

Some of the coarser strains of Paspalum that I have seen have similar characteristics as the Kikuya that I've experienced. Similar stem structure and thick matting also. Have not seen all of the newer strain of Paspalum that are being used nor have I seen too many types of Kikuya though.