Member Clubs
varieties, Virginia Tech essentially has
free rein on the short course,” Taylor said.
“Many universities have tests, research
and rectangular plots, but nobody is play-
ing golf on them. Here Virginia Tech has
a golf course where they are doing fun-
gicide, cover, aerification, etc. trials on
all different greens and traffic areas. And
it’s all being played upon. That has to be
unique to the industry.”
IDEAL TESTING GROUND
What makes Independence an ideal test
ground is location. “Richmond is square-
ly in the middle of the transition zone,”
says David McCall, assistant professor of
Turfgrass Pathology. “We are able to grow
both warm-season (bermudagrass) and
cool-season (bentgrass) grasses, but none
are truly able to thrive in Virginia. Most
golf courses in the Richmond metro area
grow creeping bentgrass on their putting
greens where harsh summer conditions
often decimate the greens despite the
golf course superintendent’s best efforts.”
Currently the testing at Independence
centers on ultradwarf bermudagrass
which is bred to thrive in the southern
United States and often cannot survive
in Virginia because of freezing tempera-
tures. However, new efforts to produce
cold-tolerant varieties with game-chang-
ing genetics have pushed the zone of
adaptation further north and have given
superintendents another option.
“To the best of our knowledge, Inde-
pendence is the northernmost golf course
with ultradwarf bermudagrass,” observes
McCall. “This gives us a perfect opportu-
nity to be on the leading edge in research-
ing winter survival of ultradwarf bermu-
dagrasses. As such we have a platform to
provide best management practices for
golf course superintendents concerned
about losing their bermudagrass greens
in the winter.”
Some of the lessons learned by Virginia Tech turfgrass students in the labs and fields in Blacksburg
have been applied at Independence.
McCall’s on-site research associate is
Ph.D. candidate Jordan Booth, CGCS, who
oversees and coordinates nearly 30 trials at
Independence. He is a former golf course
superintendent with a Masters from Virgin-
ia Tech. “We are testing the cold hardiness
and overall performance of approximately
one dozen warm-season turfgrass varieties
maintained at putting green, tee and fair-
way heights of cut,” says McCall. “Jordan
manages the overwhelming majority of
these projects in addition to assessing the
use of turf covers and plant growth regula-
tors throughout the winter.”
“The climate has always been, and will continue
to be, in constant change. Our job as scientists
is to come up with solutions to reactively adapt
to these changes now and proactively provide
recommendations based on climate projections.”
—David McCall
vsga.org
In addition to established grasses on
the short course, VT researchers are eval-
uating seven different ultradwarf bermu-
dagrasses and two ultra-fine zoysiagrasses
on putting greens, three different tee box
grasses and some dual-grass systems for
fairway use. “Each one responds differ-
ently to the environment, cultural man-
agement strategies and chemical applica-
tions,” says McCall.
How quickly knowledge gained can be
used depends on a particular project’s
research goals. “Some things are quick-
and-dirty studies to test product perfor-
mance,” says McCall, and can be utilized
almost immediately. “Others span several
years. For instance, we have some projects
evaluating organic matter accumulation
over time as it relates to ball-roll unifor-
mity, winter survivability and soil health.
While we can share results as we learn, we
won’t truly know the effect for several years.
Clearly any short course learnings can be
readily transferred to Independence’s
championship course.”
J A N UA RY / F E B R UA RY 2 0 2 0 | V I R G I N I A G O L F E R
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