SportsTurf provides current, practical and technical content on issues relevant to sports turf managers, including facilities managers. Most readers are athletic field managers from the professional level through parks and recreation, universities.
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/765909
16 SportsTurf | January 2017 www.sportsturfonline.com FIELD SCIENCE traffic, saline irrigation or consistent drought stress. Evaluation procedures are developed for each of the traits; in some cases these procedures are very detailed. For instance, when testing traffic tolerance, we must consider the species being tested, its typical use patterns, the region of the country, the traffic simulation equipment available and other factors. Only then can NTEP decide how and when to impose simulated traffic and the best data collection procedures and timing for that trial. The following is an overview of the latest traffic tolerance, cold tolerance, rate of spread and other pertinent information on the more than 60 commercially available and experimental cultivars of bermudagrass evaluated by NTEP since 2007. DATA FROM 2007-2012 Our recently completed bermuda trial, established in 2007, contains 25 seeded entries and six vegetative entries. Many of these entries were experimental cultivars when originally entered (http://www.ntep.org/data/bg07/bg07_13-10f/ bg0713ftent.txt). However, now several of these grasses are commercially available, including the seeded entries 'Gold Glove,' 'Pyramid 2,' 'Hollywood' and 'Royal Bengal.' Commercially available seeded entries 'Riviera,' 'Princess 77,' 'NuMex-Sahara,' 'Sunsport,' 'Yukon' and 'Veracruz' were also included in this trial. Commercial vegetative entries included 'Midlawn,' 'Tifway,' 'Premier' (now called Premier Pro), 'Patriot,' 'Latitude 36' and 'NorthBridge.' NTEP evaluates warm-season grasses by comparing seeded and vegetative entries, and by separately comparing seeded vs. seeded and vegetative vs. vegetative. Therefore, you will find data collected on all submitted entries (http://www.ntep.org/ reports/bg07/bg07_13-10f/bg07_13-10f.htm) broken down in different ways on our website. This section will only focus on the 16 commercially available entries from the 2007 trial. Traffic evaluations were conducted for multiple years at the following locations: Fayetteville, AR, Gainesville, FL and Raleigh, NC. Data on traffic tolerance and recovery was collected in various seasons and in several years at these sites. Investigation of each dataset is best to identify grasses for your needs; information provided here on traffic and recovery are generalizations only. At Fayetteville, AR, 'Premier Pro,' 'NorthBridge,' 'Latitude 36' (vegetative), 'Riviera,' 'Hollywood' and 'Yukon' (seeded) finished in the top statistical group for end of season ground cover in each year. 'Tifway,' 'Pyramid 2,' 'Gold Glove' and 'Princess 77' were in that top statistical group for 2 of the 3 years. Speed of recovery varied for the entries, depending on the time of year traffic was applied. The complete dataset can be found here: http://www.ntep.org/data/bg07/bg07_13-10f/ bg0713ft21a.txt. The Gainesville, FL location initiated seasonal traffic evaluations in fall 2008, with continuation (and breaks for recovery) in spring 2009, summer 2009, fall 2009 and fall 2011. Seeded entries 'Veracruz' and 'Princess 77' were very good for traffic tolerance in each season. Entries with good ground cover at the end of three of the four seasons include 'Tifway' and 'Premier Pro.' You can look closer at the data here http://www.ntep.org/data/bg07/bg07_13-10f/bg0713ft22a.txt. Finally, data was collected on wear tolerance and shear strength from 2009-2012 at Raleigh, NC. The best entries for both wear tolerance and shear strength in 2009 were 'Latitude 36,' 'NorthBridge' and 'Premier Pro.' In 2010, 'Latitude 36,' 'Pyramid 2' and 'Premier Pro' had some of the highest wear tolerance ratings along with shear strength ratings over 100 newton meters. The wear tolerance ratings of 'Tifway' and 'NorthBridge' in 2010 were lower (although not statistically significant), but they still both showed shear strength ratings of 100+ newton meters. 2011 data showed 'NorthBridge' with the highest shear measurement, significantly greater than almost all other entries. Also in 2011, 'Tifway,' 'Latitude 36,' 'NorthBridge' and 'Yukon' had the highest wear tolerance average. 'NorthBridge' and 'Tifway' continued to deliver the highest shear strength in 2012, and along with 'Latitude 36,' 'Patriot' and 'Princess 77', had the best wear tolerance ratings. Curiously, 'Midlawn' had high wear tolerance ratings from 2009-2011 at this location; however, its shear strength ratings were significantly lower than the other top entries (http://www. ntep.org/data/bg07/bg07_13-10f/bg0713ft23a.txt). Data was collected on several environmental stresses throughout the testing period. For example, saline irrigation was used at Las Cruces, NM with 'Tifway,' 'Princess 77' and 'Latitude 36' finishing the 5 years of data in the top statistical group. At Stillwater, OK and Blacksburg, VA, 'Yukon,' 'Latitude 36,' 'NorthBridge,' 'Patriot,' 'Midlawn,' 'Riviera,' 'Hollywood,' 'Premier Pro' and 'Tifway' showed significantly less winter damage. And at Fayetteville, AR, Raleigh, NC and Knoxville, TN, spring dead spot (Ophiosphaerella sp.) was noted and evaluated. Only 'Patriot,' 'Latitude 36,' 'NorthBridge,' 'Pyramid 2,' 'Tifway,' 'Premier Pro' and 'Princess 77' showed statistically less damage from spring dead spot at all three locations. DATA FROM 2013-2105 In 2013, NTEP initiated a new bermudagrass trial, containing 18 seeded entries and 17 vegetative entries (35 total entries). Twenty-one locations established the entries in spring and summer 2013, but the coldest winter in the last 30 years (2013-2014) necessitated replanting of some or all entries at seven locations. The winter of 2014-2015, although not as cold as the previous winter, was nonetheless also hard on these entries. Therefore, data collection (besides establishment and winter injury) could not commence at many locations until 2015. This report focuses on data collected through 2015, including both the 12 commercial and 23 experimental entries.