In the second of his ‘Three Men Went To Mow’ series of articles on maintaining green surface swards found on the golf courses of the UK, Kevin Munt takes a close look at Creeping Bent Grass
Green behind the ears ...
C
reeping Bent Grass (Agrostis stolonifera ) (Agrostis palustris) has a relatively short and, dare I say, not so smooth history in the UK. Nonetheless, it is an important history with much to be learned from it. If my memory serves me correctly, the first Creeping Bent Grass (CBG) greens sown in the UK were at Moor Allerton Golf Club around 1971. This was the first Robert Trent Jones design in the UK and I think he specified Penncross for the greens.
What I do know for certain is that my
first experience of Agrostis Stolonifera was also my first experience as a greenkeeper. In 1974, as a sixteen year old apprentice, at Badgemoor Park Golf Club near Henley on Thames, I had to cut all nineteen Penncross greens. This happened on more than one occasion and involved using the club’s only working 18 inch Ransomes Auto-Certes. This was a large enough task in itself, however the Head Greenkeeper had a penchant for Nitro Chalk (applied at 2oz
30
per square yard) and liked washing it in with copious amounts of water from the new ‘pop-up’ system. I was taking an average of six boxes of clippings off each green (nine being the record), leaving a distinct step between the cut and uncut surface. At least, as a beginner, I was able to see my line!
This is a perfect example of why
Creeping Bent Grass as a surface for greens got off to a bad start in the UK. Architects, that had seen the quality of the surfaces that could be produced in the States and Spain using Agrostis Stolonifera, started to spec it into new courses in the UK.
These new developments were often looking for a competitive advantage, and equated CBG to quality greens. The problem with this was that the very necessary greenkeeping skills to manage this aggressive grass were not available in the UK.
My boss at Badgemore Park had
worked for a spell in Spain on a course sown with Creeping Bent, and was
employed for his ‘expertise’! Even if a development has a greenkeeper experienced in maintaining CBG surfaces, they have to have the equipment and manpower resources in place to implement the management programmes required. This combination of knowledge and resources did not come together in the UK until the development of East Sussex National in 1988 - more on this landmark development later.
Eighties fashion
In the meantime, during the late seventies and early eighties, four or five other developments went down the CBG route. Notably, Jack Nicklaus specified it on his design at St Mellion and, I believe, Derek Ganning grew it on Thomas and Allis’ design on the Brabazon at the The Belfry. These projects subsequently suffered the wrath of Jim Arthur, who was most scathing in his criticism of the use of this American invader. There is no doubt that the use of
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