Development of sports turf systems suitable for Irish conditions.

Abstract

The principal objective of the study was to establish scientific data in relation to the nutritional requirements and best management practice for golf greens constructed to the United States Golf Association (USGA) 1973 specification under Irish conditions. The game of golf is one of the biggest sports industries in the world. Income from golf tourism in Ireland has increased from £73 million in 1994 to £180 million in 1998. Good quality turfgrass is required to underpin the promotion of golf tourism. Traditionally, golf greens on Irish golf courses were constructed from local materials and vary from green to green within a given golf course and also between different golf courses. In recent years there is a perception that the quality of putting surfaces is superior on greens constructed to the USGA specification. In addition, greens constructed to this specification are similar one to the other and location to location. The principal features of the USGA 1973 specification could be summarised as follows: (1) A network of drainage pipes installed in the underground soil covered with a carpet of peat gravel; (2) A blinding layer of specifically graded sand placed on the peat gravel; (3) A root zone mixture of graded sand (80%) and graded peat moss (20%) by volume. The particle size of the component layers must comply to the exact specification in terms of size, diameter and shape. As sands contain no nutrients, the management of greens constructed mainly of sand is more exacting than the traditional soil constructed greens. The results from this project confirmed this assumption. Three major objectives were researched in this project: (a) the effect of micro nutrients, when applied or omitted, on the quality and growth of grass on a green surface; (b) the encroachment of Poa annua (annual meadow grass) onto the green; and (c) the comparison of two nitrogen top dressing programmes on sand greens. The detailed results are given in the text and in the conclusions of this report.