ABSTRACT
The effects of golf buggy wear on the relative performance of different bentgrass species and cultivars (21 Agrostis tenuis Sibth., 18 A. stolonifera L., 2 A. canina L. and 1 A. castellana Boiss. and Reuter) was assessed under simulated fairway conditions. Additionally, examples of other grass species (Koeleria cristata (L.) Pers., Lolium perenne L., Festuca rubra ssp. litoralis (G.F.W. Meyer) Auquier and rubra ssp. Commutata Gaud.) and two grass mixtures (A. tenuis/F. rubra and A. tenuis/A. stolonifera) were evaluated alongside the different bentgrasses. Wear was applied using a two-man golf buggy from April to the end of September 2000. During this period, assessments of visual appeal, visual wear tolerance, reflectance ratio and live grass cover were made. Strong positive associations were demonstrated among the different types of measurement. Overall, cultivars of the two main bentgrass species (A. tenuis and A. stolonifera) formed distinct groups with significant differences being found among cultivars within each group. In comparison with the A. stolonifera group, cultivars of A. tenuis tended to have higher visual appeal and visual wear tolerance scores, and retain more grass cover during wear. The cultivar of A. castellana (‘Highland’) tended towards the middle of the overall measured range at the start of wear but at the bottom of the range at the end of the wear period. The two cultivars of A. canina performed well in comparison with the other bentgrass species and were comparable with or better than the higher ranking cultivars of A. tenuis. This grass type appeared to perform particularly well from mid-summer onwards. Comparisons are made between bentgrasses and examples of other grass species. Generally, the performance of the other grass types was comparable with or better than the highest ranking cultivars of A. tenuis. The two examples of F. rubra tested appeared to have superior wear tolerance to cultivars of A. tenuis, A stolonifera and A. castellana. It is noted that this contrasts markedly with studies of the same grasses under simulated greens management. The cultivar of perennial ryegrass improved from being one of the worst to one of the better grasses in trial during the wear period. The cultivar of K. cristata also performed well during the buggy wear period and was consistently rated alongside the higher ranking cultivars of A. tenuis. Combined standardised 583scores for the four different measurements were calculated for the bentgrass cultivars. These were used to examine variation over time for individual grasses relative to the other bentgrasses in trial. It was found that some grasses maintained their relative position during buggy wear, whereas others showed marked increases or decreases in their performance relative to other grasses. This work is discussed in relation to the evaluation of grasses for fairway use.
