The stretches of unusually hot, humid and dry weather felt throughout the Northeast this summer have reignited bermudagrass conversations. The difficult weather, combined with courses still logging more rounds than they’ve done in years, decades even, has placed stress on undersized practice tees and par-3 tees.
If your course is anywhere from central Connecticut down through southern New Jersey, you are likely wondering if bermudagrass can work on tees. I know this because on every visit I’ve made to courses in that area this summer, superintendents are asking me this question. I’m confident, and comfortable, that bermudagrass will work because it is already being done. Interestingly, this idea has come up as far north as Massachusetts this year. It’s been so hot and so difficult to keep grass on practice tees that superintendents are willing to try bermudagrass since the alternatives seem limited.
Courses that have already planted bermudagrass on practice tees have practically zero concerns with tee size this summer. Golfers can cycle through the grass surface and by the time they need to return to where they started, the turf has recovered and is ready for the next round of abuse. On the other hand, courses with creeping bentgrass, perennial ryegrass, Kentucky bluegrass or a combination of cool-season grasses on their practice tee are dealing with very slow recovery and by this time are wondering how many days they have left to use the grass.
There are a few bermudagrasses that I like for tees in the Northeast. Many courses that transitioned a few years ago have ‘Latitude 36’. But thanks to the hard work of bermudagrass breeders, there are now other varieties developed specifically for northern areas, including ‘Tahoma 31’ and ‘IronCutter’. A good option is to have both a bermudagrass and cool-season practice tee. The bermudagrass can handle the intense summer weather and then courses can switch to the cool-season tee until next summer.
If your course is plagued by an undersized practice tee or par-3 tees that can’t handle all the wear and tear, then bermudagrass might be worth a try. I do have concerns about winter survivability the farther north into New England we get, but summer isn’t a concern and covers can help prevent winter injury. If this has been on your mind, then perhaps experimenting with bermudagrass in a few areas next spring is worth the effort.
Northeast Region Agronomists:
Darin Bevard, senior director, Championship Agronomy – dbevard@usga.org
Elliott L. Dowling, regional director, East Region – edowling@usga.org
Brian Gietka, agronomist – bgietka@usga.org