This post comes from John Newton, CGCS, Veenker Memorial Golf Course. Veenker renovated their facility during the fall of 2008. Part of the renovation involved converting the intermediate cut of rough from common cultivars of perennial ryegrass to low mow Kentucky bluegrass. John’s note is below:
After a great opening spring with some of the new varieties of low mow bluegrass, I very impressed with the color, density, winter survival, and establishment after only 18 months of establishment. It sure looked like the perfect turf for central Iowa.
Currently, it is having a real difficult time and is very thin in some areas, especially in areas of partial shade. The damage seems to be from various disease infestations and generally appears as a weak, poor looking turf. I have to say I’m very disappointing after the success with removing the annual bluegrass out of the bluegrass last fall and this spring with Tenacity herbicide.
I’m not sure about a plan of action moving forward because some of the older turf varieties right beside the low mow blues look great, along with the ryegrass, the bentgrass fairways, and some of low mow bluegrass that was treated with Heritage in mid June. The Heritage application was made to the fairways but in spots where the booms hung over into the intermediate cut the bluegrass looks great. That was our only fungicide application to our bentgrass until recently. Probably a combination of leaf spot and patch disease’s just disappointing that we now will need to treat these new varieties. One of the main reasons for the conversion was to cut our applications of fungicides and other chemicals. The bentgrass fairways so far have been great.
One thought that crossed my mind was that it may be only certain cultivars that are susceptible to the damage. The low mow blues we used were a 4 way low mow blue mix. I would be interested to hear what others who have also converted to this turf are experiencing.
John Newton, CGCS
Veenker Memorial Golf Course