As temperatures rise, the thought of transitioning areas to warm-season grasses resurfaces on Course Consulting Service visits. This is an annual conversation that will likely occur from now until temperatures start to cool again. If you are thinking about utilizing warm-season grasses, now is a good time to experiment – especially on par-3 tees, practice tees or short game fairways. These areas receive a lot of divots during the season and cool-season grasses are slow to recover during summer heat.
States like Maryland and Pennsylvania are within in the transition zone, so it is appropriate to try warm-season grasses. If you have areas of the course that rarely meet expectations during summer; if you are concerned about water, pesticide or fungicide inputs; or just want to try something new, this is the year to sod some bermudagrass on a tee or small fairway and compare the performance to cool-season grasses.
