What is your favorite fairway/green grass ?

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By Carl T

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  • 11 Replies
  1. Carl T

    Carl T
    Little Rock, AR

    My home course has nice thick Bermuda fairway grass and the greens are Championship Bermuda that run around a 10-12 on the Stimpmeter. I played a course yesterday that had Zoysia fairways and bent greens. The Zoysia fairways let the ball sit up on top of the grass blades similar to sitting on a tee but the downside was there was not as much roll out on the fairways. The green speed was about the same as my home course but there was not a lot of grain to consider and some putts really ran by the hole more than what I was used to playing. Also as I play in the South where the temperatures are warmer for bent grass, there are large oscillating fans set up to keep air circulation blowing on the greens which are strong enough in some cases to alter your ball roll. I would love it if my home course had the Zoysia fairways and keep the Champions Bermuda. We had bent and switched over to the Champions several years ago and most of the players like it as well or better. I know our greens keeper likes it better as the maintenance is a lot less. What say you on your favorite ?
  2. Allen L

    Allen L
    Clarington, OH

    Bent grass greens, fairways, and tees.  Blue grass for the rough.

    Like the greens very fast, tees that are pool table flat, and the rough to be at a consistent height.  I haven't been able to get used to Bermuda, seems like the ball wobbles and bounces frequently en route to the cup.

  3. Double Bogey

    Double Bogey
    Priceville, AL

     You are right about the drunken wobble on Bermuda greens.  It does take a bit of getting used to. The Bermuda is my favorite greens but can get lightning fast in summer if not careful.  Like the OP I would love zoysia fairways although we don't get many of those on courses I play. My course has bentgrass greens and fans to keep them alive with Bermuda fairways and rough

  4. NCBob

    NCBob
    Hampstead, NC

    We have bent greens and bermuda fairways.  Talk is we will go to Champion greens in a couple years.

  5. Mike C

    Mike C
    Dallas, TX

    On my home course, we have Bermuda fairways and Bent Grass greens. I love the bent grass greens because they are so pure and true with very little grain. Personally, I prefer not to have the grain an issue when I am putting. I have enough to worry about with my putting stroke and taking one factor (grain) out helps! I think my favorite setup is that of one of the courses where I grew up. We had bent greens and fairways and it was always perfect. It was almost like you were walking on carpet every time you played. Whenever you hit a shot off the fairway you would get a big, rectangular divot that would spin through the air. You would pick up the divot, put it back in place and the fairway would be back to perfect in no time. Now that I live in Texas, I know that having bent grass in the fairways is not an option (a lot of people are even moving away from the Bent Grass greens to the Champion's Bermuda) but if I could play on anything, it would be bent grass all day long.
  6. dustin t

    dustin t
    Bourne, MA

    Military

    Alive!,  My home course is operated by the Coast Guard up here in the Northeast. The course is operated on a shoestring budget with a minimal staff and a antique delapidated watering system, so simply having green grass is a pleasure.We suffered a massive greens kill at the course and it took three and a half years for our operators to get the greens back but in the effort to maintain the greens the fairways took a beating to the point where there are areas that use to be plush grass that is now bare hardpan. I have no idea what our fairways are/were, but I'm told our greens are a mix of bent and poa

  7. steve m

    steve m
    oakville, ON

    My favorite type grass is the kind that is alive, healthy and weed free! Sometimes during hot dry spells we get around here it can be a challenge finding it.

  8. Dennis N

    Dennis N
    Greensboro, NC

    My course has Championship Bermuda and Bermuda fairways. I really like both surfaces. In North Carolina summer heat and dryness beat up any other surface
  9. John L

    John L
    Cumming, GA

    Bent grass greens always roll the best for me, but I never putt very well on them because I live in Georgia so I play mostly Bermuda. The only course I've played with Zoysia fairways was East Lake GC (I've heard Peachtree GC has them too). Zoysia is great because its like the ball is teed up on every iron shot. I thinks its worth less roll on the tee shots. And yes, Bermuda is WAY cheaper to maintain than Bent grass.

  10. tdogg21

    tdogg21
    Chambersburg, PA

    Living in the Northeast, we are punished with a shorter golf season.  But we are rewarded with nice bent grass fairways and greens.  Like Mike said, bent grass fairways can feel like carpet.  I just can't imagine anything better than a well maintained bent grass facility.

  11. Bomber3

    Bomber3
    Lake St Louis, MO

    Military

    A lot of the courses in my area have Zoysia fairways and bent grass on the greens.  Although there are also a fair amount of courses around with Bermuda fairways.  I don't mind playing off of either if they are properly maintained (mowed tight).  The biggest reason we see both in my area is due to the summer heat and humidity.  Both of these grasses are every heat and drought tolerant.  I like putting on any type of grass as long as the greens are fairly quick.  The problem we see here in the summer with bent greens is that a lot of courses cut their greens higher than normal (fuzzy), which just kills your putting.  Courses around here would be better off going with the newer strains of Bermuda for greens since they stand up well to the summer heat (they won't because of the cost to change over).  I've experienced the joy of putting on old Bermuda greens many times (sarcasm) and they are just tough to putt (teaches you to read greens better).  Those big old blades of grass can drive you crazy!

  12. Harrison B

    Harrison B
    Simpsonville, SC

    The way I've described it before is this...

     

    Championship-level Bermuda can be just as good as Championship-level bent.

    BUT, Bermuda at any other level of manicuring will never hold a candle to bent.

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