TURF VARIETIES TURF VARIETIES
At Maroochy River GC, superintendent Pat Pauli prefers grooming his young TifEagle greens over dusting: “Grooming in our situation with high golfer numbers seems to work better. I think the bowling greenkeepers could teach us a lot and I try to follow some of their methods.”
Tif tips While 328 is still very much the industry standard for couchgrass greens in Australia’s warmer climes, ultradwarf varieties like TifEagle are becoming an increasingly popular option when it comes to resurfacing or reconstructing greens. ATM asks a group of local superintendents how they manage their ultradwarf greens and some of the do’s and don’ts associated with their maintenance.
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PAT PAULI MAROOCHY RIVER GC, QLD Maroochy River Golf Club opened in 2015 and has TifEagle greens, whereas the old Horton Park site had 328. We do somewhere between 60-65,000 rounds of golf a year so what we would like to do with the new TifEagle greens and what we actually do are poles apart due to the amount of play, weather and time available. In regards to fertility, because the greens are still new we use a mixture of granular and foliar feeds. We need to fertilise a lot more than we were doing at Horton Park with the 328. We are trying to provide reasonable levels of Ca, Mg and K along with looking after the trace elements. Our old greens would survive on 3kg/100m2 of actual N a year, whereas at present we are well over 4kg/100m2. It is much the same for K. We mow the TifEagle daily (3mm in summer and up to 3.5mm, sometimes 4mm, in winter) except during winter when we will either dew broom, roll and mow once, maybe twice, a week. Sometimes if it is windy we may do nothing – we have a very exposed site and it has been a huge change from the old parkland style course. I am fairly confident given the right conditions (i.e.: more time and less golf) you could make a pretty slick and smooth surface, but most members don’t want them any quicker than they are now. At the moment we renovate the greens twice a year, which includes light dethatching with triplex mowers, coring and, because the greens are new, rubbing that core material back into the surface before tidying up, applying a granular fertiliser and topdressing. Dusting occurs for a month or so after October renovations and then we start grooming. Weather conditions dictate what happens with grooming and dusting after the February renovations. I
AUSTRALIAN TURFGRASS MANAGEMENT 18.5
prefer grooming to dusting. I think the bowling greenkeepers could teach us a lot and I try to follow some of their methods. Grooming in our situation with high golf numbers seems to work better and is easier to do. Regarding disease, we do a preventive black beetle spray but rarely do a grub/caterpillar spray. We would probably do 4-5 fungicide applications a year (we sometimes get pythium after renovations). For those with newer/young TifEagle greens it is important to be on top of your fertiliser and water requirements. The surface gets quite tight and it can be difficult to get water into and through the surface. When constructing greens make certain you add plenty of amendments to your greens sand and have it mixed through the entire profile (and get it mixed off site). Don’t put your amendments on top and try and rotary hoe them in – you just end up creating layers. The top will look after itself, produce its own organic matter and all we have to do is add sand (topdress/dusting).
BRENT CONDON NORTH LAKES RESORT GC, QLD The TifEagle greens at North Lakes are now 15 years old and are still providing a very healthy and consistent putting surface. Our regular mowing height is 3mm which he never go beyond and during the winter we up that to 3.5mm. Average green speed is roughly 10-11 feet. We apply a fortnightly foliar feed to keep the TifEagle healthy and full of colour with two different combinations. Nitrogen rates are applied at 15L/ ha along with humic acids. Other key ingredients include concentrated silica, calcium and potassium. As we have poor quality recycled waste water, a rich calcium liquid formulation is applied which also has trace elements. I have found the available calcium counteracts the negative effects of sodium.