Golf course superintendents in the Desert Southwest growing ‘Tifgreen 328’ and ‘Tifdwarf’ bermudagrass on greens know that fall overseeding is critical to achieve acceptable playing surfaces during winter months. These grasses were released nearly 70 years ago and their traffic tolerance pales in comparison to the ultradwarf bermudagrasses used by many courses today. A growing number of courses with newer ultradwarf greens are pivoting away from overseeding to provide better playing conditions for more days of the year. However, courses with heavy play volume – i.e., greater than 50,000 rounds annually – may be apprehensive about forgoing overseeding due to concerns about thin turf or bare ground in high-traffic areas.
Fear not! There are many examples of courses in southern Arizona and the Coachella Valley in California with exceptional non-overseeded greens during the winter months. I recently visited with Aaron Thomas, superintendent at SaddleBrooke Ranch Golf Club in Oracle, Arizona. SaddleBrooke upgraded to ‘MiniVerde’ ultradwarf bermudagrass in 2022, and the greens have not been overseeded since planting. After two years of proper management, the greens are receptive to good golf shots, display full turf cover and offer exceptional playing conditions during the traditional overseeding season. This course is at an elevation over 3,000 feet and sees low temperatures below 30 degrees F for extended periods every winter. Lower temperatures mean less growth and recovery than many other courses in southern Arizona. Last year, the course had over 60,000 rounds and will do similar play volume in 2024. Despite heavy play, the greens held excellent turf density and quality during the winter months.
The take-home message is that even with high play volume, courses in the Desert Southwest can produce good playing conditions on non-overseeded ultradwarf bermudagrass greens during the winter months. Here are a few additional considerations to optimize turf density and health:
- Try to keep trees at least 20-25 yards away from greens, especially to the southeast, south and southwest.
- Manage surface organic matter appropriately. High surface organic matter creates chronically wet conditions that lead to turf thinning.
- Increase the height of cut in fall to prevent excessively fast green speeds and to improve turf health.
- Expand greens where necessary to spread out hole locations.
For those superintendents upgrading to ultradwarf bermudagrasses this year – and there are a lot of you – plan to omit overseeding the first year and perhaps forever! If you would like to discuss this in greater detail, reach out to your regional USGA agronomist.
West Region Agronomists:
Brian Whitlark, regional director – bwhitlark@usga.org
Cory Isom, senior consulting agronomist – cisom@usga.org