The Mid-Atlantic region of the USGAGreen Section is located in the easternTransition Zone of the United States.

One of the most frequently asked questionsfor both new and older golf courses in this regionis, "What's the best grass for fairways?" Sincethere isn't a simple response to this question,perhaps it is best to respond with the followingquestions.• How do you want your fairways to look andplay in the summer? In the winter? In the springand fall?• Are your golfers comparing the grass on yourfairways to neighboring courses with anothertype of grass, and is there pressure from yourgolfers to conform to their standard?• How much play does your course receive?• Do your players expect to drive up to their golfball, jump out of the cart, hit a shot, and driveaway playing" cart ball" at all times of the year?In other words, will they respect cart restriction

rules some months of the year, or do they wantcomplete access to the fairways at any timeof the year?• Does green color of the turf mean anything ona year-round basis? Will your golfers tolerate andenjoy golf on fairway turf that isn't green in thewinter?• Are chemical usage and the cost of fairwaymaintenance concerns on your golf course?• Do you want the most "bang for the buck" interms of fairway playability? Do you want thebest possible fairway turf for the least amount ofmoney?• Are your fairways heavily tree lined? This maylimit your ability to grow warm-season grasseslike bermudagrass and zoysiagrass.• If the fairways are tree lined, are they orientednorth/ south or east/west? Or is this even aconcern?• How good or bad is your fairway drainage?• How good or bad are your fairway soils?

Overseeding abermudagrass fairwaywith perennial ryegrassis another option forfairways located in theTransition Zone regionof the United States.

JANUAR.Y-FEBR.UARY 2002

In some instances,bermudagrass willnot survive winterstresses. In thissituation, the zoysia-grass prevailed.Thewinter injury potentialand the brown versusgreen winter color aremajor reasons for thereluctance to usewarm-season grassesin the transition zone.

As you can plainly see, answering the question"What's the best grass for fairways in theTransition Zone?" is not easy or straightforward.

Another question for someone not familiarwith the Transition Zone may be, "What is aTransition Zone anyway?"

Historically, the Transition Zone region hasbeen defined as the northern extreme for theadaptation of warm-season grasses like bermuda-grass and zoysiagrass, and the southern extremefor the adaptation of cool-season grasses like thebentgrasses, Kentucky bluegrass, perennial rye-grass, and the fescues. The Transition Zone is alsowhere the distinction between the annual andperennial biotypes of Foa annua becomes blurred.In this Zone, Foa annua can be a true winterannual. Equally, there are always some perennialbiotypes of Foa annua that tend to survive theweather extremes in this region of the countryjust fine. However, for the purposes of this articleon fairway grasses, creeping bentgrass, perennial

ryegrass, and possibly Kentucky bluegrass are thecool-season grasses for fairways in the TransitionZone. Simply defined, the Transition Zone is anoverlap area for plants. It is neither a southern areawhere warm-season grasses are best adapted nor anorthern climate where cool-season grassesthrive. For turf managers who maintain golfcourses in Transition Zones worldwide, such areasare simply tough spots to grow grass.

As a footnote, old-timers called this area the"goosegrass zone:' They used a weed to define aclimatic zone and, interestingly, this observation isamazingly accurate. If you can see goosegrass(silver crabgrass, Eleusine indica) growing naturally,you are in a Transition Zone!

It should be noted that modern plant breedinghas blurred these lines. Cold-tolerant bermuda-grasses are being developed and thus can begrown further north. Equally, now bentgrasses aremore heat tolerant and disease resistant and thuscan be grown further south.What to do? This

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article will be an attempt to update and reviewthese grass options. A better decision can bemade on which type of grass to grow through acombination of factors - like better irrigationand drainage systems, a realization that too manytrees and too much shade are bad for all grasses,better mowing equipment, higher operatingbudgets such that comprehensive fungicide andgrowth regulator programs are nowcommonplace, plant breeding that has yieldedstronger and better adapted varieties, and perhapsmost important of all, golfers who expect betterfairway turf more days of the year regardless ofthe weather.

The next section will discuss the strengths andweaknesses of each grass type.

CREEPING BENTGRASS(Agrostis stolonifera palustris)For the purpose of this article, only creepingbentgrass will be discussed for Transition Zonefairways, even though plant breeders may some-day yield other adapted bentgrass species forfairway usage, most notably colonial bentgrass(Agrostis tenuis).

Strengths• Considered the "Cadillac" of fairway grasses. Itis perceived that more of the better courses havebentgrass fairways than other grass options.• Does not require extensive yearly interseedingin comparison to perennial ryegrass.• Excellent winter hardiness.• Good to excellent summer heat tolerance.• Depending upon the variety, bentgrass hasreasonably good disease tolerance, especially whenproperly managed in terms of irrigation, fertility,and thatch control.• Stays green through most winters, losing coloronly during the coldest and most desiccatingwinters.• Responds well to growth regulator programsfor Poa annua suppression and control, and forclipping reduction.• Tolerates some shade.• Tolerates moderate to low levels of fertility onceestablished.• Can be closely cut.• Spreads by stolons, making divot recoveryreasonably good in the spring and fall.• Plant breeders have provided any number ofgood grass choices, which can be used as singlevarieties or in compatible blends. Also, bentgrasses

as a group are being genetically engineered asanother means to improve the species.

Weaknesses• Slow divot recovery during hot summers,requiring a divot-filling program.• When under wilt stress in the summer, cartrestrictions may be needed.• Thatch must be controlled. Unless properlymanaged, thatch can be the Achilles' heel ofbentgrasses.• Bent fairways are at their best with lightweightmowing and clipping removal programs. This canincrease the cost of golf course maintenance incomparison to other grass options.• Requires a good irrigation system for establish-ment and maintenance.• Can require handwork, especially hand wateringand attention to isolated dry spots, to avoid over-irrigation.• Requires a moderate fungicide spray program.• Bentgrass can creep into intermediate roughsand primary rough. The turf manager needs to bemindful of this or else fairway contours canslowly change, or the character of the roughdefinitely will change!• Requires careful selection of individual varietiesand seed lots to avoid seed contamination con-cerns with Poa annua and Poa trivialis.• Some golfers do not like the tight lies associatedwith properly maintained bentgrass fairways.

PERENNIAL RYEGRASS(Lolium perenne L.)Even with today's concerns about chemical usagein the environment, a significant number of golfcourses maintain perennial ryegrass as theirprincipal fairway turf. Perennial ryegrass hasevolved as the replacement for Kentucky blue-grass fairways, which were common. in theTransition Zone a few decades ago. R¥egrassshares many of the same color and growth habitcharacteristics of Kentucky bluegrass but is fareasier to establish and maintain than Kentuckybluegrass, especially under the close mowingheights common on today's fairways.

Strengths• Good playability. When properly maintained,the ball sits up well on perennial ryegrass, and awide spectrum of golfers like the playabilityoffered by ryegrass fairways.• Toughness. Except in extreme circumstances,golf courses seldom restrict cart traffic from rye-

JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2002 3

Spring dead spot onbermudagrass is theonly significant diseaseto impact this speciesin the Transition Zone.

grass fairways. This grass is compatible with theconcept of" cart ball." The fact is, perennialryegrass is physically one of the toughest andmost wear-resistant cool-season grasses availableto the turf manager.• Tolerance to a wide range of plant-protectantchemicals, including those for pre- and post-emerge herbicides, which eases controlling weedsand weed grasses of the Transition Zone likecrabgrass, goosegrass, Poa annua, broadleaf andnarrow-leaf weeds.• A nice dark green color that stripes well.• Inexpensive seed.• Rapid seed germination.

• Excellent seedling vigor.• New varieties are always being developed withbetter density and better mowing characteristics.• Excellent winter color and spring green-up.• Responds well to growth regulators.• Rapid recovery via interseeding and growth ofexisting plants when turfloss problems do occur.•Very drought tolerant.• Moderately tolerant to summer heat stress,depending upon the variety.• Most varieties are endophyte-enhanced fornatural insect suppression.

Weaknesses• Disease susceptibility. Perennial ryegrass requiresa comprehensive and preventative fungicide sprayprogram that can be expensive and extend for

nearly the entire grass-growing season. Pythium,brown patch, and gray leaf spot can bedevastating.• Slow to spread. Perennial ryegrass is a bunchgrass that spreads by basal tillers, though there aresome short rhizomes on some varieties.• Normally requires a fall interseeding program tomaintain density and introduce new varieties.• Did I say,"Extremely susceptible to summerdiseases"?• Susceptible to ice damage during the winter inshaded and low-lying areas that hold water.• Perennial ryegrass fairways are at their best witha moderate fertility program.

• Many choices. Can be confusingwhen choosing which varieties to use.• Did I say,"Extremely diseasesusceptible"?You get the point. TheAchilles' heel of perennial ryegrass is itssusceptibility to a long list of fungaldiseases that can be devastating andexpensive to control.

ZOYSIAGRASS(Zoysia japonica Steud.)Zoysiagrass continues to be an optionfor fairways in the Transition Zone. Re-cently, the use of this grass has declined,rightly or wrongly. Apparently, concernsabout the winter color of zoysiagrassand its intolerance of overseeding arelimiting its use in the northern part ofthe Transition Zone. Nonetheless,zoysiagrass remains an excellent turf forfairways in the Transition Zone.

Strengths• Outstanding playability when actively growing,when semi-dormant, and even when dormant.• Requires low inputs of fertilizer, fungicides,herbicides, and insecticides.• Only susceptible to one major disease - zoysiapatch.• When dormant, like bermudagrass, winterweeds are easy to control. (I bet I'll get a fewletters on this comment.) Pre-emerge and post-emerge herbicides normally work well.• Moderate irrigation requirements. Thoughdrought tolerant, zoysiagrass is at its best whenirrigated. This is both a strength and a weakness.• Of the warm-season grasses available, zoysiagrassis extremely winter hardy. The most-used varietycontinues to be Meyer.

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• Tolerant of a wide range of soil conditions.• Tolerates traffic, except when dormant.• Tough to take a divot from zoysiagrass.

Weaknesses• Cost of establishment. Zoysiagrass may be thecostliest of the grasses to establish initially.• Slow to establish. Sodding fairways is now themost-used establishment technique.• Tan/brown winter color. Under normalcircumstances, overseeding for winter color isnot recommended.• Though drought tolerant, zoysiagrass is at its bestwhen irrigation is provided.• Traffic needs to be restricted when dormant.• Divots are slow to heal when dormant or semi-dormant (if you can even take a divot!).• Requires a thatch-control program in thesummer when the grass is actively growing.• Can experience winter icedamage in low areas that holdwater.• Only marginally shadetolerant.

BERMUDAGRASS(Cynodon L. spp.)Bermudagrass still has a strongpresence on golf coursefairways, especially in the lowerhalf of the Transition Zone.Research in breeding continuesto yield new bermudagrassesthat offer improved winterhardiness along with finer leafblades and better turf density,even approaching that of thehybrid bermudagrasses fromsouthern regions. The followinglist assumes reasonable winterhardiness.

Strengths• Outstanding summer appearance and playability.The hotter it is, the better bermudagrasses grow.• Moderate fertilizer and water needs.• In comparison to other grass options,bermudagrass performs well using inexpensiveagricultural-grade fertilizers.• Outstanding wear tolerance when activelygrowmg.• Tolerance to a long list of chemicals for insectand weed control.

• Only one major disease to manage -spring dead spot.• Cost effective and rapid to establish.• Tolerates growth regulators to enhance turfdensity, especially the common types ofbermudagrass.• Greatest "bang for the buck." Bermudagrass isthe low-cost grass option for fairways.• Can be overseeded for winter color with therealization that some damage to bermudagrass canoccur, especially in shaded and wet areas duringcool springs common to a Transition Zone area.

Weaknesses• Winter color. Some golfers do not like thetan/brown color of dormant bermudagrass. Forthis reason, we are seeing more and more golfcourses overseed bermudagrass with perennialryegrass in the Transition Zone. This overseeding

negates some of the cost advantages to bermuda-grass fairways and negatively impacts the health ofthe bermudagrass, especially in shaded and wet,low-lying areas.• Poor spring playability. Non-overseeded ber-mudagrass fairways lose much of their canopyover the winter. In the spring, golfers say they are"playing on dirt" until the bermudagrass breaksdormancy and begins to grow. In some springs,this can be agonizingly slow.• Low tolerance to shade.

Take-all patch some-times occurs on newbentgrass fairways.Over time, dollar spotbecomes the mostcommonly observeddisease.

JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2002 5

The finalchoice on

the grass to usecomes down to

the individualdecision byindividual

clubs, courses,architects, and

golf coursesuperintendents.

After all, isn'tthat the

beauty (orthe frustration)

of the gameof golf?

• Susceptible to winter damage in shade and lowareas that hold water and ice.• Intolerant of overseeding in shade and poordrainage areas. May require tree removal and/orreplanting or resodding following the transitionof the overseeded ryegrass.

OTHER GRASS OPTIONSWhile creeping bentgrass, perennial ryegrass,bermudagrass, and zoysiagrass comprise themajority of fairways on golf courses in theTransition Zone, there are other grasses beinggrown. Most of these grasses have simply adaptedto a particular golf course. For example, thereare fairways composed of various combinationsof bent grass and Poa annua; fairways of combi-nations of perennial ryegrass and Poa annua;and fairways of perennial ryegrass and Poaannua, along with various amounts of commonand improved bermudagrasses and even patchesof zoysiagrass, many of unknown or long-lostorigins. Some golf courses where a fmal decisionon grass types has not been made contain ahodgepodge of grasses of widely varying grasstypes. If there is an advantage to this approach,it is that there will always be some grass some-where on fairways. The disadvantage of thisapproach is that fairway quality never is goodor, if it is, it can change quickly with the weather.Having fairways containing a combinationof warm- and cool-season grasses without acommitment to either grass option makes thealready difficult job of maintaining fairwayseven worse.

There is even some Kentucky bluegrasssurviving in fairways. In fact, improved varietiesof Kentucky bluegrass are once again being triedon fairways in the upper Transition Zone. It hasbeen our experience that interseeding Kentuckybluegrass into an existing stand of grass may notwork and may be a waste of time and money. It iswith new golf courses where the option of usingKentucky bluegrass may have some hope ofsuccess. Time will tell. The final verdict will bebased on how well these grasses perform in thelong term.

The same situation exists for seeded, winter-hardy varieties of bermuda grass. Plant breeding isyielding new varieties that, at the time this articleis being written, seem to have potential for use onfairways in the Transition Zone. However, thesenew varieties of seeded bermudagrass also remainunproven in the field under actual playing con-

ditions. The agronomic verdict is just not in forthese two grasses.

Still confused? In some respects, that's the pointof this article. Regardless of what grass choice ismade for fairways in the Transition Zone, insome years, due to the weather, any choice mayseem wrong. In the Transition Zone, there aresignificantly different choices on which type ofgrass is to be grown on fairways.

Agronomically, there may not be a best choicefor all golf courses in all situations like those thatmay exist for other golf courses even a fewhundred miles north or south of the TransitionZone. To help make that final decision on whichgrass to use, consulting with the agronomists ofthe USGA Green Section, state university andextension specialists, and simply visiting neigh-boring golf courses that have these grasses grow-ing on them are good ideas. In this grass-growingzone of adversity, everyone seems to helpeveryone else.

SUMMARYWhat's the bottom line? In the final analysis, yourchoice of fairway grasses comes down to this oneword - COMMITMENT.

Any and all of these grasses can be grownwith reasonable success in the Transition Zone.The final choice on the grass to use comesdown to the individual decision by individualclubs, courses, architects, and golf course super-intendents. After all, isn't that the beauty (or thefrustration) of the game of golf? No two coursesare alike. This is so very true in the TransitionZone areas where, for example, in the Washington,D. C., metropolitan area, you can play golf oncourses having essentially pure bentgrass, rye-grass, bermudagrass, zoysiagrass, and/or blendsof them all, within a few miles of each other!In fact, at Woodmont Country Club in Rockville,Maryland, arguably one of the fmest 36-holefacilities in the area, they have zoysiagrass onone of their 18-hole courses and ryegrass ontheir other course! It all comes down to thetype of playability you want during the timeof year your play is the greatest, your budget,and, again, your commitment to that type offairway grass.

STANLEY ZONTEK, Director of the USGA GreenSection Mid-Atlantic Region, has visited coursesin theTransition Zone for 30 years.

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