Iconic Courses
Turf Talk
Golf Course Grass: The Basics BY RICK HAMILTON
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SkyCity Nine Eagles features wall-to-wall Paspalum
ave you ever wondered why some courses look and play better than others at certain times of the year? While it would be easy to suggest it was all down to maintenance procedures, the overriding reason is that different courses use different types of grasses—and different types of grasses react differently according to their environment. Take Augusta National, for instance. In the spring, when the course hosts the Masters tournament, it looks fabulous. Its towering pines and beautiful azaleas aside, the playing surfaces are perfect. There can’t be a golfer on the planet who wouldn’t want to play on the club’s carpet-like fairways and silky smooth greens. But visit Augusta in the summer and you’d most likely be disappointed. The course is closed during this time, and for good reason: the Georgia heat is too much for the course’s bentgrass greens to handle. If kept at the same tournament heights and speeds, the grass would soon die. The same logic explains why bentgrass, a fine leaf variety considered the “Rolls Royce” of putting surfaces, is so rarely used in southern China. Put simply, our tropical climate—the heat, humidity and heavy rainfall—is wholly unsuitable for growing quality bentgrass. Bent thrives in cooler, drier climes, which is why it is used extensively in places like Kunming and northern China.
Generally speaking, courses in our region use one or two types of grass: Bermuda and, increasingly, Paspalum. Broader-leafed than Bent, these two grass types, which are classified as warm season grasses, are more resistant to the extreme conditions that prevail throughout the year in southern China. Water quality, the type of soil, the amount of on-course traffic and, of course, maintenance practices also play their part in determining which grass, or grasses, a particular course chooses. It is interesting to see that the majority of new courses in the region are going for one or two options: wall-to-wall Paspalum or Paspalum fairways, tees and roughs combined with Bermuda TifEagle greens. (TifEagle is a new strain of Bermuda, and when maintained well, can rival Bentgrass for smooth and slick putting surfaces at certain times of the year). Despite what you might have read elsewhere, there is no such thing as “Wondergrass.” No one grass type suits all conditions. Each type of grass has its advantages and disadvantages, which I have summarized in the table below. Please note, however, that this is only a general guide. There are a number of other factors that affect the quality of playing surfaces, which I will touch upon in future issues.
WARM SEASON GRASSES Use on Course
Rick Hamilton is managing director of Asia Turf Solutions, a turf management consultancy company based in Hong Kong. COOL SEASON GRASSES
Bermuda
Paspalum
Zoysia
Bent
Kentucky Blue
Rye
Throughout
Throughout
Fairways, tees, roughs (occasionaly greens)
Throughout
Fairways, tees, roughs
Primarily overseeding (adds colour to dormant grass)
Fine, wiry leaf. Slow growth
Fine leaf, high density. Shallow root system
Broad leaf; suitable for medium traffic
Bunch type (used to add colour to dormant grass)
Striking colour, recovers well
Deep green colour
Characteristics Medium broad leaf; Broad leaf, high new strains are very density. Vigorous fine. Good growth growth Pros
Robust grass, recovers well. TifEagle provides excellent greens
Aesthetically Native to SE pleasing; handles lack Asia,Hardy, requires of sunlight and poor low maintenance quality water well
Deep green colour, low growing habit means it can be cut very short
Cons
Needs sunlight. Loses colour in winter when semi-dormant
Green speeds tend to be low. Requires a lot of preparation to increase speed
Slow recovery from damage. Not as pleasing to the eye as others
Not as hardy Becomes fragile when over-watered. as others Requires regular maintenance
Susceptible to disease
Where Used
SE Asia
SE Asia (newer courses)
SE Asia + Japan (older courses)
Kunming, N. China
N. China
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HK GOLFER・SEPT/OCT 2008
N. China
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Sensational Sawgrass As host of THE PLAYERS Championship and headquarters of the PGA Tour, the TPC Sawgrass is one of the most revered places in all of golf. We travel to Florida to see for ourselves.
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u gusta National aside, the Stadium Course at the TPC Sawgrass is arguably the most recognizable course in t he Un ited States —if not the world. As host of THE PLAYERS Championship, images of the course’s beautifully manicured fairways and railroad tie-supported greens have been beamed to all corners of the globe for over twenty-five years. Not everyone will remember then-PGA Tour commissioner Deane Beman being pushed into the lake fronting the eighteenth green by Jerry Pate after the latter won the course’s debut event in 1982, but any self-respecting golf fan can’t fail to forget the tournament’s highlight reel over the last decade. There was Tiger’s “Better than Most” 60-foot rollercoaster putt WWW.HKGA.COM
at the seventeenth for birdie in 2001; Davis Love III’s sublime 6-iron from the trees at sixteen which set up an eagle in 2003; and Adam Scott’s gutsy bogeysave on eighteen to win the event in 2004, to name but a few. Augusta might have “Amen Corner,” but holes sixteen thru eighteen at the Stadium Course are as easily identifiable as any stretch on the planet. And what’s more, unlike the home of the Masters tournament, you can actually play them. “We are open to the public. Guests are encouraged to come, even if you’re not playing golf,” says Billy Dettlaff, the PGA Tour’s national director of golf as we sit in his spacious office inside the club’s magnificent clubhouse. “We encourage people to come, see the clubhouse, see all the memorabilia, the history.” This is something that you quickly learn about Sawgrass: they welcome visitors with open arms. Let’s face it, apart from a handful of public courses in the British Isles and the United States, the majority courses on the top-100 list, of which Sawgrass is firmly entrenched, are strictly private. If you are permitted on their hallowed turf, they certainly don’t go out of their way to advertise the fact. Sawgrass is as inclusive as they come. OK, at US$350 for a round on Stadium Course, it’s pricey. But this isn’t just any old round—this is a round in which you’ll be following in the footsteps of champions. HK GOLFER・SEPT/OCT 2008
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