Establishment of the USGA Green Section

In 1920, attorney E. J. Marshall, then green committee chairman for the Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio, was charged with overseeing course preparations for that year’s U.S. Open. He sought – in vain – objective, scholarly agronomic information to help him in his task. Later that year, in response to the entreaties of Marshall, Merion’s Hugh Wilson and others, the USGA and the United States Department of Agriculture agreed to collaborate in the development of scientific information relating to golf course turf. On November 30, 1920, the Executive Committee of the United States Golf Association created the USGA Green Section.

USDA scientists Dr. Charles V. Piper and Dr. Russell A. Oakley, both keen golfers, were appointed to run the Green Section. As early as 1906, Piper and Oakley were consulting on golf course turf. In 1908, they counseled pioneer architect C.B. Macdonald on grassing the National Golf Links of America, advising him on fertilization techniques to help grass grow in the sandy soil of eastern Long Island. In 1917, Piper and Oakley authored their seminal work, “Turf for Golf Courses.”

On February 10, 1921, Piper and Oakley published the first issue of The Bulletin of the Green Section, which established a long, virtually unbroken chain of publication that dispensed research results and impartial advice for practitioners of turfgrass management. Today that publication is known as the USGA Green Section Record.

Turfgrass Research and Innovation

In 1916, at the urging of the USGA, the USDA – via Piper and Oakley – established the Arlington Turf Gardens in Arlington, Virginia. Early research there yielded improved bentgrasses for putting greens. After the formation of the Green Section, research continued at Arlington with financial help from the USGA until 1942 when the U.S. Department of Defense confiscated Arlington Turf Gardens and its surrounds to make way for a new campus of buildings we know today as the Pentagon.

In the 1940s and 50s, turfgrass research exploded with a huge development – turfgrass breeding. On the bentgrass side, Penn State University’s Dr. Burton Musser began USGA-supported research that led to the 1954 release of ‘Penncross’, the first improved bentgrass that could be grown from seed. On the bermudagrass side, USGA funding to the tune of $500 per year allowed the University of Georgia’s Dr. Glenn Burton to breed bermudagrass cultivars with superior traits that became the majority of bermudagrass varieties used on golf courses in the Southeast, including the famous ‘Tifway’.

Today, the USGA Turfgrass and Environmental Research Program continues to be hugely impactful. Drought conditions in the 1970s spurred research efforts to improve irrigation efficiency and produce grasses that require less water. That research continues to this day, with more than a dozen universities working hard to help golf courses use less water. Ongoing development of bermudagrasses with improved cold tolerance, such as ‘Latitude 36’ and ‘NorthBridge’, is helping courses in a wider range of climates to conserve water and deliver better playing conditions throughout the year.

USGA-funded research has resulted in improvements of nearly all the major species planted on golf course playing surfaces including annual bluegrass, colonial bentgrass, creeping bentgrass, fine fescue, Kentucky bluegrass, perennial ryegrass, turf-type tall fescue, bermudagrass, seashore paspalum, zoysiagrass. They have also invested in improving native species for naturalized areas such as alkaligrass, blue grama, buffalograss, crested wheatgrass, curly mesquite, inland saltgrass, and sprucetop grama. It’s safe to say that no matter where your golf ball lands, it probably is on grass that has ties back to the USGA.

The USGA Turfgrass and Environmental Research Program is also helping to develop grasses that are more disease resistant, saving individual golf courses thousands of dollars each year in pesticide applications.

Understandably, innovation takes time.  Nobody waves a wand and suddenly there’s a new grass variety. “Depending on the species, it can take up to 20 years to develop a new grass variety,” said Dr. Cole Thompson, director of the USGA Turfgrass and Environmental Research Program. Innovation also takes money. The USGA has invested more than $43 million in turfgrass and environmental research over the years. The average annual investment is $1.5 million to $2 million, with $1.9 million being invested in 2020.

Course Consulting Service

Launched in 1953 as the Turf Advisory Service, the Course Consulting Service (CCS) represented a paradigm shift in department activities for the Green Section. For its first 30 years, the Green Section mostly stuck to research. That changed as the need for course-specific guidance was heard loud and clear from golf courses around the country. As Chris Hartwiger, director of the Course Consulting Service put it, “The cornerstone of the program is having agronomic experts located throughout the country that understand regional trends and issues, understand how to resolve or mitigate problems, and are available to work one-on-one with facilities. These on-site visits to participating courses by experienced agronomists, followed by written reports of findings and recommendations is the essence of what we do.”

Overall, USGA agronomists visit about 750 courses per year. “On average, each agronomist makes 75-100 visits annually,” said John Daniels, Central Region agronomist, “but we’re interacting with a lot more courses than that. We will stop by a course for even 20-30 minutes while we’re in the neighborhood to check in, answer a question or meet a new superintendent. We’re also regularly fielding calls and emails about a range of issues.”

Hartwiger states that their first focus is on producing healthy turf. “Without a healthy base of turf, it’s not realistic to provide excellent or acceptable playing conditions for an extended period of time,” he said. “With a healthy foundation in place, our next focus is on optimizing playing quality based on a facility’s budget, expectations and type of golfer.” The agronomists help courses with everything from disease outbreaks on greens to issues with bunker sand playability. They get to the root of the problem and suggest an economically feasible fix.

Two main features make CCS so successful and distinctive, according to Hartwiger. “We have a national presence and no commercial ties to our recommendations,” said Hartwiger. “Over the last 75 years, it’s clear that the USGA’s commitment to placing turfgrass experts across the country is unprecedented in the industry. When you couple this with the fact that we do not have any commercial ties, we are viewed as being a resource ‘for the good of the game’ and a trusted advisor for our clients.”

Nelson Caron, superintendent at The Ford Plantation in Richmond Hill, Georgia, couldn’t agree more. “We have one course visit in the spring and one in the fall,” says Caron. “It’s like going to get a checkup at the doctor.”

To Caron, one of the greatest benefits USGA agronomists brought to the Southeast in particular was helping to promote widespread use of ultradwarf bermudagrasses for putting greens. “Back in 2010 or so, they opened my eyes – and the eyes of many others – about the positives in ultradwarf bermudagrass and the benefits of moving away from bentgrasses, which really struggle during our hot, humid summers. When one reflects on the beneficial impact that these agronomists had in that shift alone, we’re talking about hundreds of clubs enjoying better playing conditions and hundreds of millions of dollars saved.”

And it’s not only golfers, superintendents and course owners who benefit from the CCS. Architects do, too. Bill Bergin, of Bergin Golf Designs, has collaborated with the USGA Green Section on a dozen projects since 1999 – each one a success.

“The more objective we can be in identifying our reasons for renovation, the more successful we are,” said Bergin. “That’s where the Green Section comes in. In our renovation process, we always start with the mechanical – the agronomics of the golf course. How old are the greens? Does the golf course drain properly? Are trees obstructing air flow and circulation? What are the proper grass choices? Before you go into making the course more playable or more exciting, you have start with the mechanical aspects and that’s where USGA agronomists and the architect tag-team perfectly.”

USGA Recommendations for a Method of Putting Green Construction

Prior to World War II, soil-based greens did just fine, all things considered. Golf wasn’t a big-time endeavor. After the war ended, however, golf became more popular and old or inconsistent construction methods for putting greens started showing their weaknesses. Standards were also rising.

To cope with the increasing demands placed on putting greens, the USGA invested in research that focused on building greens with a sand foundation and effective drainage. After 10 years of research at the university level, the first USGA putting green construction recommendations were published.

The method of construction that became known as a “USGA green” involved excavating the putting green area, installing drainage pipes in the subsoil, then covering them with a 4-inch layer of gravel, which was topped by a 12-inch layer of sand-based rootzone mix. The principal benefits of this construction method included improved internal drainage, resistance to compaction and consistent performance that allows putting green turf to prosper in almost all conditions.

The USGA continually invests in researching and refining the recommendations. Owing to scientific and technological advances, six updates to the process have been published since 1960, most recently in 2018. Even with all the changes that have occurred in golf over the last 60 years, the USGA method of putting green construction remains the most widely used in golf.

Championship Preparations

According to the USGA, “The Green Section provides active support of on-course preparations at all of the USGA championships. The USGA agronomists work with golf course management staff before, during and after each championship to achieve the desired playing conditions for competition while using best management practices to preserve turfgrass health.”

But it wasn’t always this way. Even after E.J Marshall reached out to ask for help in preparing Inverness for the 1920 U.S. Open, it took more than three decades for the host clubs and the Green Section agronomists to collaborate. Since then, it’s been a very compatible partnership.

Darin Bevard, director of Championship Agronomy, begins site visits four to five years before a course hosts a championship. The year preceding the championship, he will make three to four full-day course visits. On some of these occasions, a USGA regional agronomist will accompany Bevard and at other times the agronomist will consult on their own. Bevard and the agronomists evaluate current conditions and make recommendations about how to achieve the desired playing conditions for the championship.

Bevard appears on-site seven days prior to the start of a championship and remains for the duration. At the U.S. Open and U.S. Women’s Open, he is accompanied by two regional agronomists. There is at least one regional agronomist present at every USGA national championship.

Bevard sees his role as the conduit between the host club and the USGA. “We work with the golf course superintendent and the Championship Director from the USGA, who is in charge of golf course setup,” said Bevard. “It’s our job to get the course prepared the way the Championship Director and the USGA would like it to play in terms of putting green speed, green and fairway firmness, rough conditions, width – every aspect. As we get closer to the championship, we’re observing the practice round play, evaluating ball reaction on the greens, adjusting firmness and so forth. We continue that monitoring and evaluation process throughout the championship itself and work with the superintendent to make any adjustments or solve any problems that arise.”

The most common issue is weather. “Rain, wind – anything that prevents you from doing what you want to do. That’s what keeps me up at night,” said Bevard. As far as unusual issues? Again, it’s all about nature. “During the 2016 U.S. Women’s Open, I got a call to remove a snake crawling across the second fairway. We had bees at a U.S. Junior event one year. You deal with it.”

Bevard’s personal favorite on-site memory was back in 2013, when he was lead agronomist at the U.S. Open at Merion. “With the weather challenges we had – all the rain – it was really enjoyable working with superintendent Matt Shaffer, his team and all the volunteers to keep that golf course in shape and playable. That was the most fun I’ve ever had in a bad situation,” said Bevard. “There is a greenside bunker to the left of the famous 11th green. We had to rebuild it twice that week. There was so much rain, the water came up from the creek and flooded that bunker – two different times. I’ve never been a part of anything quite like that.”

Turfgrass Information File (TGIF)

TGIF means one thing to most people. What it means to superintendents, turfgrass researchers and university students seeking information and solutions is possessing the ultimate library card. The Turfgrass Information File (TGIF) is hosted at the Turfgrass Information Center at Michigan State University. Experts generally consider it the most complete repository of turfgrass information in the world.

Born of necessity, TGIF was fueled by the Green Section’s desire to develop a thorough turfgrass research reference library stored in an accessible digital bank. In 1983, proposals were solicited. Michigan State had amassed a world-class collection of works on the topic and so the university forged a relationship with the USGA. By 1997, the World Wide Web brought TGIF content to many more subscribers than ever before. In 1998, to ensure that Michigan State University Libraries possessed the necessary resources to maintain and develop the TGIF database and website, the USGA pledged $1 million to the school’s endowment.

According to Pete Cookingham, head of the Turfgrass Information Center, TGIF currently hosts 303,545 records (articles). In 2018 alone, nearly 625,000 database users searched for one or more records.

Cole Thompson emphatically puts TGIF in the proper perspective. “TGIF is the database for turfgrass-related literature.” John Daniels, USGA agronomist, echoes that sentiment. “It’s a tremendous resource. I use it all the time. It helps me answer questions I get from superintendents and golfers and allows me to share some research with them. It would be a huge loss if we didn’t have it.”

Research and the Environment

In 1990, in an effort to show how golf could not only coexist with the environment, but enhance it, the USGA pledged more than $3 million to study what happens to pesticides and fertilizers when you apply them to golf course turf.

Working in conjunction with the EPA, the USGA Environmental Research Program results revealed that under most conditions, the small amounts of pesticides and nutrients that move from golf course turf and soils were found at levels below the health and safety standards established by the EPA.

Part of the mission that evolved from this research was determining the impacts and benefits of golf courses on communities, wildlife and the environment. Since 1990, about $10 million in USGA funding has supported more than 100 projects focused on environmental research.

There has been $1 million invested in the past 10 years to support programs like Audubon International’s BioBlitz and Monarchs in the Rough . Several other projects studied best practices for establishing pollinator and other wildlife habitat, the effects of nutrients and pesticides on invertebrate abundance in golf course waters, and the emissions associated with turfgrass management. Another project is estimating the value of ecosystem services provided by golf courses and comparing these benefits with those offered by other potential land uses.

One of the most popular and successful of these USGA-supported initiatives has been Monarchs in the Rough. Established in 2018 in conjunction with Audubon International and the Environmental Defense Fund, it is now close to surpassing the goal of having 500 golf facilities convert a minimum of 1 acre of maintained turf to monarch butterfly habitat. The process involves procuring native plant materials, such as the milkweed plants on which monarch butterflies depend, and establishing them in a typically out-of-play area on the golf course, replacing the maintained turf.

“There are two huge benefits to Monarchs in the rough,” said John Daniels. “First, it provides cost savings. You’re taking the expense of maintaining that turf – labor hours, fuel costs, irrigation, preemergence herbicides – and reallocating that to more impactful places on the course or saving the cost entirely. Second, you’re creating an important habitat for a species that’s been in decline. You don’t have to be a golfer to identify a monarch butterfly. Even an elementary school kid recognizes that brilliant black and orange coloration.”

Tools for Turfgrass Management

The USGA Stimpmeter® is a tool for measuring green speed that was developed by Edward Stimpson after he observed what he thought were excessively fast greens during the 1935 U.S. Open at Oakmont. The USGA tested and refined the tool, eventually bringing an improved version to market in 1978 to help superintendents measure and manage green speeds more effectively.

The aluminum bar featured an extended V-shaped groove and an indentation where a ball would fit. When the device was raised to an angle of 20 degrees, the ball is released onto the putting surface. To get an accurate measure of green speed, the user finds a flat spot on a green, rolls three balls in one direction and measures the average distance they rolled, then repeats the process in the other direction to arrive at an overall average that accounts for any influence of slope and wind direction.

The Stimpmeter was meant to assist superintendents in comparing greens within their own course to achieve consistency and refine their maintenance practices. Unfortunately, it wound up launching an arms race between some golfers who were eager to brag about whose greens were faster, and thus “superior.” However, anyone that works in the Green Section will be quick to tell you that faster does not mean better, and green speed measurements can’t be reasonably compared between courses because there are too many variables.

Less controversial was the debut of the USGA TruFirm device, created to determine objective measurements of putting green firmness. Together with soil moisture meters, the TruFirm provided reliable feedback to achieve sought-after consistency in measuring green firmness.

The most recent addition to the toolbox is a digital platform that helps facility managers to make important decisions that impact maintenance efficiency and golfer experience. The online facility app uses a customizable map and easy-to-understand charts and graphs to visualize data such as the resources used to maintain every feature of the course, golfer traffic based on GPS data, and playing conditions of the greens.

Whether used on a day-to-day basis or in conjunction with a renovation project, the data can be used to maximize return on any investment. The USGA officially will launch the tool in early 2021, so be on the lookout for an announcement.

The Next 100 Years 

Looking ahead, Dr. Matt Pringle, managing director the of Green Section, is proud of the impact the Green Section had made over the last century and even more excited about the next 100 years. “We know that what golfers care about is a great golf experience, but courses must be as responsible and judicious as possible with the resources needed to provide that experience. We’re going to continue to do research, and continue to share that information through our education program and our agronomists. We’re also building new tools that can help golf courses make more data-driven decision to provide a better playing experience and reduce the use of critical resources like labor and water” said Pringle.

Backed by the largest turfgrass research program in the world and a talented staff of agronomists, engineers and education experts, Pringle is confident that the Green Section will have an even greater impact on golf courses over the next century and beyond by providing tools and solutions to golf courses, clubs and golf associations that make golf experiences better.

Joe Passov is an award-winning journalist who has been writing about golf since 1991.