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There are many reasons why hybrid bermudagrass is the go-to choice for fairways and rough in the south-central U.S. It provides a reliably good playing surface during the busy summer season, and advancements in cold and drought tolerance make the newer varieties more resistant to extreme weather. Throughout the history of bermudagrass breeding, talented turf scientists have improved many important traits, but its dislike for shade still challenges superintendents. Although some bermudagrass varieties tolerate shade a bit better than others, there isn’t much hope for it under large trees with dense canopies.

A solution that has worked well for golf courses facing this issue is to convert bermudagrass rough under and around trees to turf-type tall fescue. Improved varieties of tall fescue are well-adapted to the transition zone thanks to turf breeders who have been hard at work improving disease, drought and heat tolerance. Compared to bermudagrass, cool-season grasses have higher photosynthetic rates and lower respiration rates in shaded environments, allowing tall fescue to maintain acceptable quality with 70% reduction of full sun (Wu et al., 1985). The daily light integral (DLI; measured in moles per square meter per day) is a measure used by turf researchers to quantify how much light grass needs. While bermudagrass generally has a DLI requirement of about 25 or more, under certain management conditions, some tall fescue cultivars have been reported to have DLI requirements under 10 (Meeks et al., 2015).

If you’re looking for locations at your course where tall fescue might be a better option in the rough, you can map weak areas around trees, take drone photographs to see the extent of tree shade, or use a sun-tracking app on your phone to evaluate where shade falls throughout the year. Tall fescue can then be established in these areas from seed or sod, depending on the time of year and how quickly you need to have turf coverage. Some courses mow tall fescue areas slightly higher than the bermudagrass rough, but tall fescue is surprisingly tolerant of lower mowing heights and I’ve seen it do just fine at 2 inches.

Converting bermudagrass rough under trees to turf-type tall fescue is a strategy that has worked well for superintendents across the transition zone, from Oklahoma to North Carolina. Superintendents have said that the difference in how tall fescue areas look and play compared to the surrounding bermudagrass has not been an issue with golfers, and different turf is certainly better than bare ground. So, if tree shade is preventing your bermudagrass rough from reaching its full potential, consider making the switch to turf-type tall fescue.

References

Meeks, M., Chandra, A., & Wherley, B. G. (2015). Growth responses of hybrid bluegrass and tall fescue as influenced by light intensity and trinexapac-ethyl. HortScience, 50(8), 1241-1247. https://doi.org/10.21273/HORTSCI.50.8.1241

Wu, L., Huff, D., & Davis, W. B. (1985). Tall fescue turf performance under a tree shade. HortScience, 20(2), 281-282. https://doi.org/10.21273/HORTSCI.20.2.281

Central Region Agronomists:

Zach Nicoludis, regional director – znicoludis@usga.org

Information on the USGA’s Course Consulting Service

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