Update on bermuda experiments

By Todd Mathews
Golf Course Superintendent
Our bermuda experiments began about 6 weeks ago and everything seems to be doing well. The area that we sodded on 13 rooted down quickly and was ready for play after about 10 days. The quickstand bermuda loves the heat and has produced a nice playing surface. The area left of 4 tee was also sodded and we are using it as a nursery. We have already used some sod from the nursery to replace some ugly turf in 8 fairway.

The areas that we sprigged on 14 and 18 are also doing well. We are seeing a lot of lateral growth and noticing some nice coverage. There are a few downsides to sprigging bermuda into an existing cool season fairway.

Competition is the biggest problem. The bermuda has to fight for territory with the existing turf. This impedes the progress of the bermuda. We are using a few management practices that will help the spread of the bermuda. We have been intentionally holding back fungicide from the sprigged areas in order to stress the cool season turf. Letting fungus occur in the sprigged areas will weaken the existing grass and allow the bermuda more room to spread. We are also applying plenty of nitrogen to the sprigged areas to help promote growth. Another item that we are experimenting with is the use of a new herbicide that removes unwanted cool season turf from bermuda. This herbicide reduces competition by killing cool season turf, thus allowing bermuda to spread more quickly. If the chemical works well, the transition to bermuda fairways could be expedited.

Another downside to sprigging bermuda into an existing cool season fairway is the disruption of play. The 2 areas that we sprigged weren't playable for about 2 weeks. We had a problem with rain showers on the day we sprigged which made the process more messy than expected. The job would have been much neater if the soil had not been so moist.

This fall, when the first frost arrives and the bermuda goes dormant, golfers will be able to see what we accomplished with sprigging. The tan bermuda will stand out against the green cool season turf, allowing us to see how much coverage we gained this summer. At that time, our first stage of the bermuda experiment will be complete. We will then start discussing next years plan.

The new fungicide and growth regulator program we implemented this season on our fairways has been a great success so far. The results we are seeing have made us look more closely at the transition to bermuda. We aren't out of the woods just yet, there is still one more month of nasty, hot weather (August is usually our worst month). The growth regulator has seemed to make our existing turf more heat hardy while reducing the poa annua population. If we can hang on for another month we will be in pretty good shape. Hot, humid weather raises our concerns about an out break of pythium fungus. We do not have enough money in our fungicide budget to preventively treat for pythium. If we were able to apply a preventative fungicide for pythium, there would be little doubt that we could get through August with minimal fairway damage.