Turf for greens in Northeast heat

[philsRHman]

All the talk of the paspalum this weekend at Kiawah got me thinking about the greens we play here in the Northeast. I think this is the third summer in a row that you're hearing horror stories about places losing their greens, and not just crappy munis, but top country clubs, too. My understanding is that it's very hard to find true Bent greens anymore because of all the cross contamination through the years, and that most greens in the northeast have a ton of Poa in them.

 

Are there any greenskeepers out there who can offer opinions on whether some of these new grasses would work in the Northeast? I know Bermuda was chosen in the south because of the hot weather, but in the Northeast we're seeing 2-3 months where the greens are teetering on the verge of death. I know there are a lot of newer Bermuda's that putt better and are less grainy, but would they even survive in the cooler months of March-June and Sept-Dec?

 

Seems like there's so much new technology and agronomy out there, would be nice if they can find something to ease the problems in the hot summers. What do they do in the midwest, where I know the summers are extremely hot and the winters are very cold.

[gators52]

I work at a golfcourse in Vermont and losing our bentgrass greens hasn't been a problem. On hot and sunny days, we always have a guy or two dedicated to watering the course for the whole day untill the sun goes down. Our problem is moss and dollarspot, not dead truff.

[greg c]

Bent grass would do just fine. The problem is poa, and keeping it out. There are proven agronomic practices that will allow the bent to out compete the poa, but the problem is that "golfers" want green lush conditions all the time. This promotes poa.

[jdhallissey]

Poa is actually a great putting surface for about 8 hours after being mowed. Poa handles a lot of stress but it is the end of the day it grows out and gets bumpy. To get bent to run correctly you need to let it dry out a little and get firm. If they keep them like most the midwest does so golfers have fun (moist, soft, and spongy) you will bring in the disease and fungus.

[greg c]

I agree that poa is a great putting surface. However, it is vulnerable in both high heat/humidity and to winter kill. Bent is much more tolerant. Bent doesn't need to be dry and firm to be a good surface. The problem is, when bent is not managed on the dry side, the poa starts coming in, creating an uneven putting surface. The problem with golfers today is that they think the turf should be moist, soft, and spongy...and this, from an agronomic standpoint is a bad thing.

[philsRHman]

If a course has had poa take over and doesn't have the budget to maintain it properly (greens only cut 3-4 times a week) what would it take to get the surface back to all bent?

[jdhallissey]

The only way to truly get it bsck to bent is strip it new top sand and re-seed.

[greg c]

The expensive and quickest way to remove the poa and replace with bent is to rip up the turf and rebuild from the rootzone up. But it is not the only way to do it. There are proven agronomic practices out there that have resulted in transforming turf from poa to bent. And you may be surprised, but those practices can result in a reduction of the budget as it's actually more expensive to properly maintain poa than it is to maintain bent. Plus, if you do go the re-building route, spend all the $$$ on the process, but your super goes right back to managing the greens the same way they were before, then here comes the poa, once again.