United States Golf Association WEST REGIONAL UPDATE
Removing the Bermudagrass Toupee
Brian Whitlark - Senior Consulting Agronomist Uncut bermudagrass stems and stolons form a thick mat that negatively impacts the playing surface.
Bermudagrass can be an excellent playing surface if well maintained. Hybrid bermudagrasses deliver a uniform and dense turf cover that tolerates traffic when actively growing and can survive with less water inputs than most all other turfgrasses.
However, maintaining bermudagrass is not without its challenges. One significant issue is that bermudagrass produces stems and aboveground stolons that will grow on top of one another and lay horizontally along the ground. If left uncut, this material will develop a thick thatch-mat that has several negative implications: Thatch limits water movement into the soil, which can lead to runoff and localized dry spots. A thick thatch-mat produces a more favorable environment for diseases such as Rhizoctonia solani and different spring dead spot pathogens (Ophiosphaerella spp.). A thick thatch-mat negatively impacts the playing surface by creating softer conditions, unpredictable bounces and turf may “grab” clubs on shots hit into the grain. During USGA Course Consulting Service visits with superintendents in Southern California,