First, this sounds funny, but they have not been over managed. There is no pressure to have them faster, open for tournament players and they are open 6 days per week. There is less need for mowing as frequent as the Maxwell. Without the desire for faster speeds, they are not pushed to the brink of death like the Maxwell. This reduces the amount of water and fertilizer required to survive. which also leads to a more favorable environment for poa annua.
The Pfluger was also not over-planted with trees. Morning shade on tightly mowed grass is a killer for bentgrass and only promotes poa.
For years the golf course was closed for members on Mondays while the Maxwell course was open for outside events. This puts more traffic on the Maxwell while it opened the opportunity to overseed the Pfluger greens with more bentgrass seed.
Five years ago, like with many new products on the property we tried a new growth regulator that suppresses poa and allows the bent to keep growing. We experimented with rates at that point starting with low rates until we found our happy place. Last year our bent populations really took off and it allowed us to raise our rates to the maximum level for the best poa control and continue to favor bentgrass.
It is safe to say that the Pfluger greens are at least 80% bent and some have more. On the 9 hole course, the poa is mixed in evenly so it is hard to tell where the poa actually is located. On the Maxwell there are still large patches of poa and it stands out easier. But this is starting to dissipate as the bent infiltrates those larger patches.
Now that our bent populations are so high on the 9 hole course we are beginning to research some other products that can eradicate the poa completely. This is no easy task. Poa is an incredibly adaptable plant and is very difficult to kill off. In the meantime we will continue to focus on managing bentgrass to provide the best putting surfaces possible.
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