Zoysiagrass at St. Martins

Yesterday we completed Phase 1 of our St. Martins work by sodding all of our tee-tops to zoysiagrass.

We also installed a small area on #1 fairway, as we believe zoysiagrass is a likely option for a future fairway turf at St. Martins. The prime users of St. Martins will really enjoy the zoysiagrass lie, as the ball sits straight up in the air as if it was on a tee. As a warm-season turf, zoysia looks its best during the middle of the summer, exactly when St. Martins is most heavily used.

Agronomicallly, zoysiagrass makes sense for many reasons. It is extremely heat tolerant, and requires less water, chemical, and fertility requirements. Zoysiagrass will go dormant, which means growth will be very slow in the spring in and in the fall. This is good news as it means that that we will not be spending unnecessary dollars mowing the turf when the golf course is not being heavily used.

From a conditioning standpoint, members will be happy to know that St. Martins can easily become a world-class golf experience, and still remain as a relatively simple and cost-effective golf course to maintain.

We will heavily topdress the tees as soon as they root. This will make them firm and perfectly smooth. Come summer, a time when other grasses begin to struggle with the heat, our tees will be healthy and bright green.

The small trial area on #1 fairway also serves as a driving range tee for our Jr. Camps at St. Martins. This turf will be much more enjoyable for the juniors to learn the game as it will be easier for their shots to get airborn.