New on the market (Turfgrass varieties)

Researchers continue to develop turfgrass varieties that are designed to withstand today’s demanding golf course conditions. Here are some of the newer cultivars, which were developed to offer protection from factors including dwindling water quality, low height of cut and heavy play.

Barenbrug USA

Baroness Kentucky bluegrass is performing well in different locations throughout the country. It tops the National Turfgrass Evaluation Program list for drought tolerance. Baroness  has high turf quality and is very dark green. It’s a small, seeded variety, which means it has twice the seed as other bluegrasses. Barenbrug offers a new coating for this variety called Zeba, a nontoxic, biodegradable, starch-based, absorbent coating that forms a hydrogel to provide moisture on demand to increase germination and establishment efficiency. Every Kentucky bluegrass variety sold by the company must pass its wear simulation program.

Barnique Kentucky bluegrass performs well in NTEP trials. Barnique tolerates wear and is lighter green than Baroness. It also has small seeds and is available with the Zeba coating.

TurfStar perennial ryegrass is a blend that contains high-quality varieties, is guaranteed Poa annua free and has a high germination rate. This fall, the company introduces TurfStarXPC perennial ryegrass mix. XPC stands for extra Poa cover. The mix has lighter-colored perennial ryegrass varieties in it, which allows for concealing Poa. It also contains Bargold, a fine-leaved, perennial ryegrass variety and exhibits wear tolerance. It also withstands close mowing – as low as one-fifth inch – which is uncommon for perennial rye.

SOS plus Panterra is for overseeding Bermudagrass. The SOS program allows users to create a regional specific overseeding mixture based on climate and desired transition speed. SOS was developed in conjunction with David Chalmers of Texas A&M University. It’s based on Panterra, an annual ryegrass with favorable turf characteristics.

Barbados hybrid seeded Bermudagrass is finer-leaved than Princess 77 and Riviera and exhibits spring and summer density. It’s aggressive in the spring, which allows for smooth transition from winter overseeding stress. In the fall, Barbados exhibits a more open turf, allowing for better establishment of overseeded cool-season grasses. Barbados is closing the gap between seeded varieties and vegetative varieties; in several trials it ranks higher than the vegetatives. It can be cut to one-sixteenth inch and is only available with the Zeba coating.

For more information, visit www.barusa.com.

Environmental Turf

SeaDwarf seashore paspalum is a true dwarf paspalum, which means it delivers fast green speeds and high-quality greens. SeaDwarf may be used for high-quality, tee-to-green golf courses, offering superintendents just one grass to manage. SeaDwarf is drought tolerant, requires up to half the water for irrigation needed by Bermudagrass, and may be irrigated with a wide range in water quality - from potable water to brackish, effluent, even seawater with proper maintenance. The way it grows enables it to heal twice as fast as Bermudagrass from divots and sports-related damage. SeaDwarf is environmentally friendly and is highly salt-tolerant. It requires as much as 75 percent less nitrogen for fertilization than Bermudagrass. Additionally, salt can be used as an herbicide.

Aloha seashore paspalum was developed by the University of Florida. Fine-textured with a deep green color, Aloha requires as much as 75 percent less nitrogen for fertilization than Bermudagrass, as much as 50 percent less water for irrigation, and can be irrigated with a range of water sources – from potable water to brackish, effluent, even seawater with proper maintenance. Salt can be used as an herbicide. The cultivar tolerates salt spray and salt water inundation. Aloha can be used in combination with SeaDwarf for longer roughs and color contrast.

PristineFlora zoysiagrass also was developed by the University of Florida. PristineFlora zoysia is a highly shade-tolerant grass with a fine texture and rich green color. It can be used for golf and ornamental use. It works well on golf course tees and fairways. It’s faster growing than many other common zoysiagrasses, allowing it to heal from wear. It also tolerates most herbicides.

For more information, visit www.environmentalturf.com.

Burlingham Seeds

Firebird tall fescue is one of the darkest tall fescues available. It has improved brown patch resistance, is slower growing and requires less maintenance. It’s highly rated in drought tolerance and is ideal for primary or secondary roughs, bunker facings or around the clubhouse in sun or shade for traditional tall fescue usage areas.

Zodiac chewings fescue has been the No. 1-rated chewings fescue in turf quality in the last two NTEP trial years. It’s fine textured with improved disease resistance and ability to mow at short cut heights of one-half inch. It’s ideal for Northern climate fairways and tree-lined greens surrounds or for dormant overseeding in the South.

Overdrive perennial ryegrass has broad adaptability and is resistant to gray leaf spot. It’s slower growing, which requires less mowing, and has high endophyte for better stress tolerance. Overdrive has summer active growth, which helps it recover from stress.

For more information, visit www.burlinghamseeds.com.

Jacklin Seed by Simplot

4-Season Kentucky bluegrass is an elite variety with remarkable spring green-up. Its year-round performance earns the “four-season” designation. It features a darker green color, improved disease resistances and heat/drought tolerance.

For more information, visit www.jacklin.com.

Scotts Turf-Seed

Developed by Pure Seed Testing in cooperation with the University of Georgia, Sea Spray paspalum is the first release of an improved, seeded seashore paspalum. Ideal for temperate to hot, humid coastal climates, it’s extremely salt tolerant and is drought and shade tolerant. Bright, blue-green in color, it’s ideal for use on turfgrass areas irrigated with effluent water or subject to naturally high saline conditions.

For more information, visit www.turf-seed.com

LESCO

Noble Eagle perennial ryegrass blend contains three advanced-generation cultivars of turf type perennial ryegrass derived from three unique genetic backgrounds. All three varieties – Notable (Exp AF), Prototype (exp DCM) and Attribute (exp CIS PR270) – have demonstrated ideal turf performance at varied mowing heights and maintenance levels in the current NTEP trial. The varieties have good turf density ratings and have shown resistance to gray leaf spot. Noble Eagle is a premium ryegrass blend and is blue-tag certified. It works well in high-traffic areas such as golf course tees and fairways.

For more information, visit www.lesco.com.

Seed Research of Oregon/Pickseed

Tyee creeping bentgrass was the top-rated bentgrass in the NTEP greens trials on sand and at or below one-eighth-inch height of cut. It’s derived from plants that survive and thrive under heat and stress. It’s extra density helps keep Poa annua away.

007 bentgrass was developed by Richard Hurley, Ph.D., in cooperation with Rutgers University for performance and high dollar spot resistance. All individual parental clones of creeping bentgrass used in the development of 007 were selected for improved dollar spot resistance, medium bright green leaf color and a vigorous, uniform, moderately dense growth habit. Recommended uses include seeding or sodding putting greens, tees and fairways. It will adapt well to low mowing on greens or for reduced fungicide use on fairways and tees.

MacKenzie bentgrass has the density required for low heights of cut on greens, especially at the reduced fertility often used with the more aggressive lateral growth needed for fairways. Once established, it has the density to withstand wear in all seasons and for all uses. It has high summer performance and a winter-active growth. The cultivar was developed from bentgrass clones selected from high stress environments.

SR 1150 bentgrass was developed to form a vigorous, moderately dense bentgrass fairway, tee or green under lower maintenance conditions. The development of SR 1150 traces to genetic studies on dollar spot resistance by Stacy Bonos, Ph.D., of Rutgers University. SR 1150 won’t form thatch as readily as more dense varieties. It has a bright, dark green color and a moderate leaf texture. It demonstrates high resistance to dollar spot, brown patch and pink snow mold.

SR 4600, Harrier and Zoom perennial ryegrasses have high resistance to gray leaf spot. All varieties show excellent turf quality. Zoom has shown the highest turf performance under all conditions in the 2004 NTEP trial. Headstart 2 and Calypso III ryegrasses are two varieties that complement these cultivars because of their dark green color and high resistance to dollar spot and red thread.

Bandera Texas x Kentucky hybrid bluegrass has been shown to have excellent drought resistance and recovery because of its deep extensive rhizomes. Another Texas x Kentucky hybrid, Spitfire bluegrass, combines the darker color of Midnight Kentucky bluegrass with the drought and heat tolerance of Texas bluegrass.

The company is introducing new high-endophyte fine fescues that show superior turf performance for all usages, from fairways to unmowed roughs.

SR 5250 (SRX 52961) strong creeping red fescue is heat tolerant and can be used from full sun to shade in a broader area than older creeping red fescues. It has shown wear tolerance when cut at fairway heights and can be established with other fine fescues, Kentucky bluegrasses or perennial ryegrasses.

SR 3150 (SRX 3961) fescue can be used on fairways to unmowed roadsides. Traditionally, hard fescues were used on shade sites of home lawns or golf course roughs but the advances in SR 3150 enable this variety to be used from sun to shade and high to low maintenance sites. High endophyte levels enable it to resist surface insects and help provide protection against diseases such as dollar spot. Improved heat and summer stress resistance further expand its uses.

SR 5130 (SRX 51G) chewings fescue, the latest of this cultivar from the company, has shown ideal performance under traffic stress when cut at fairways heights. It performs well under shade. Resistance to dollar spot, summer patch and red thread contributes to the high performance of this variety. It can be used in mixtures with other fine fescues, Kentucky bluegrasses and perennial ryegrasses.

For more information, visit www.sroseed.com.

Tee-2-Green Corp.

Recognized for its distinctive bluish-green color, Crystal BlueLinks bentgrass had top-rated performance in the 2005 NTEP trials. Multiyear field trials indicate it maintains remarkable disease resistance to significant turf diseases such as brown patch, dollar spot and copper spot.

Alister colonial bentgrass is guaranteed to be free of crop and weed seed, features a bright color and exhibits solid winter growth. It’s recognized for improved leaf spot and take-all patch resistance. Alister isn’t as aggressive as creeping bentgrass, which enables it to coexist with fine fescue or thrive under low-maintenance conditions.

For more information, visit www.tee-2-green.com.

Turf Ecosystems

Platinum TE paspalum has no genetic-based grain. It exhibits dwarf-like transformation characteristics as height-of-cut is reduced below 0.125 inch, forming shorter internodes and smaller, narrower leaves as the grass is groomed. The cultivar exhibits continuous growth that provides wear tolerance and divot and ball-mark recovery. It has a low nitrogen requirement because of high nitrogen uptake, but when a growth enhancement is needed, the cultivar rapidly responds to additional nitrogen applications.

For more information, visit www.platinumte.com. GCI

Editor’s note: If there are other new varieties that aren’t included, please send the information to Heather Wood, Web editor, at hwood@gie.net.