Types of Grass for Golf Courses

Both amateur and professional golf courses require a variety of grass types to maintain the turf and keep a lush, green appearance. Greens have a mat-like texture and rich dark color. A quick glance is enough to know that the grass is cut ultra-short so that putts can roll fast and far. The fairways require a mixture of types of grasses to maintain the large sculpted area.

The traditional grass for golf courses is the "Kentucky Bluegrass." It is available in many varieties including "Rhythm," "Midnight" and "Appalachian." Bluegrasses blend to give a bright green, dense sod, that is also heat-tolerant. Offering also a tolerance for high traffic and slow growth, many courses in cool climates use bluegrasses. Golf courses in the Willamette Valley in Oregon feature bluegrasses. Five-pound bags of supreme quality seed begin at $27 at retail establishments.

"Colonial," "Creeping" and "Velvet" are popular types of bentgrasses. "Penncross Creeping" is the most common bentgrass choice for golf courses due to the durable nature of the grass and the low maintenance required to keep it looking green. Bentgrasses, most suitable for growth on courses in New England and Pacific Northwest regions, are also in use on golf courses in the southeastern U.S., but the courses require additional maintenance. Five-pound bags of quality bentgrasses begin at a retail price of $17.

"MiniVerde Ultra Dwarf Bermuda" is designed for use on golf course putting greens and tees in warm climates. This turf variety tolerates salt water, ranking highest in the Bermuda grass category. It is popular for its rich, dense green color. MiniVerde turfs can be seen at Bear's Club in Jupiter, Florida, Brackenridge Municipal Golf Course in San Antonio, Texas, Callawassie Island Club-Magnolia on Callawassie Island, South Carolina and at Canton Golf Club in Canton, Georgia. For the past 40 years, "Tifway 419 Bermuda" has been the premium grass for golf courses due to its disease resistance and durability. It is designed for use on roughs and fairways. Five-pound bags of premium Bermudas start at $35.

"Platinum TE Paspalum" is a new grass, designed by Dr. R.R. Duncan of the University of Georgia. It is appropriate for courses in warm, sea climates. It works well for tee boxes, rough, fairways and putting greens. This rich-colored new grass repels disease, grows well in shade, and has a high tolerance to salt water. Courses installing "Platinum TE" include: Twin Doves in Ho Chi Min City, Vietnam, Mission Hills in Hainan Island, China, Dragon Lakes and Lion Lakes Golf Club both in Guangzhou, China, and the Polaris Golf World in Murcia, Spain. "SeaIsle 2000 Paspalum" is another new grass development of R.R. Duncan. "SeaIsle 2000" was developed from a sample grass taken from Bokeelia, Florida's Alden Pines Country Club, for used on greens and tee boxes. "SeaIsle 2000" can be seen on many golf courses on the Gulf of Mexico. One advantage to this grass is its tolerance for an irrigation system that incorporated a sea water blend, or even the option of using pure ocean water for irrigation. "SeaDwarf Seashore Paspalum" grass variety, a development of Environmental Turf Company, is designed for putting greens and fairways located near salt water. It is another variety of grass that is used frequently on courses on the Mexican Gulf. It has a brilliant green color and may be irrigated with water high in salt content. It has the added advantage of requiring only half the irrigation water of any Bermuda grass. "Sealsle Supreme Paspalum" is a new paspalum grass designed for use on the roughs, tees and fairways. "Sealsle Supreme" also has excellent properties for use on putting greens. The turf was developed by R.R. Duncan and the staff at the Griffin Experiment Station at the University of Georgia. Water Color Inn on Santa Rosa Beach, Florida, used SeaIsle Supreme to create their golf courses. As the sea isle name indicates, this turf thrives on the climate near the ocean. All types of paspalum seeds retail for a starting price of $27 for a 5-pound bag of seed.

"Meyer Zoysia" is a popular choice for golf fairways. "Meyer Zoysia" was a joint development of the U.S. Golf Association Green Section along with the Crops Research Division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Research Service. The grass was named after Frank N. Meyer, a department employee, who collected the first "Zoysia" seeds in Korea at the turn-of-the-century. The name is a nod to the 18th-century botanist Karl von Zois. Prices for a one pound bag of "Zoysia" grass seed start at $39.