When people think of the United States Golf Association, they might think about all of the golf tournaments they put on throughout the year or maybe they think of it as the organization responsible for upholding the rules of golf. While both of these things are true, it is just scratching the surface in terms of what they do for the game of golf.
One particular involvement that is rather important for people in my industry is the USGA’s dedication to turfgrass research. Over the last 100 years, the USGA has provided grants to various universities that total over $40 million. The research program can essentially be broken down into two larger categories: Integrated turfgrass management & genetics and breeding.
In recent years, an area of interest for the USGA that has gained a lot of attention is the development of new bermudagrass varieties. One of the main goals was to create and make commercially available a variety of bermudagrass that could withstand the cooler temperatures in our part of the country.
The first glimpse of success for the USGA was a partnership with Oklahoma State University and their turfgrass breeder, Dr. Yanqi Wu, in 2010 when they released NorthBridge bermudagrass and Latitude 36 bermudagrass. They are both solid varieties that exhibit cold hardiness and wear tolerance which has made them a strong choice for sports field managers.
While NorthBridge and Latitude 36 were entering the market, Dr. Wu and his team at OSU were working to create what they hoped to be an even stronger variety in terms of cold tolerance, drought resistance and wear tolerance. The result of all of their hard work and determination is Tahoma 31 bermudagrass.
In St. Louis, Tahoma 31 has shown that it can withstand our winters and green up quickly in the springtime. Also, it recovers significantly faster than the zoysiagrass we are used to seeing. All of these characteristics, along with its overall turf quality and playability, make for a compelling argument when considering it for a course in this area.If you’d like more information about Tahoma 31, they have a number of articles and testimonials on their website which can be found at tahoma31.com.
