End of Project ReportThe principal objective of the study was to establish scientific data in relation to the
nutritional requirements and best management practice for golf greens constructed to the
United States Golf Association (USGA) 1973 specification under Irish conditions.
The game of golf is one of the biggest sports industries in the world. Income from golf
tourism in Ireland has increased from £73 million in 1994 to £180 million in 1998. Good
quality turfgrass is required to underpin the promotion of golf tourism.
Traditionally, golf greens on Irish golf courses were constructed from local materials and
vary from green to green within a given golf course and also between different golf courses.
In recent years there is a perception that the quality of putting surfaces is superior on greens
constructed to the USGA specification. In addition, greens constructed to this specification
are similar one to the other and location to location. The principal features of the USGA
1973 specification could be summarised as follows: (1) A network of drainage pipes
installed in the underground soil covered with a carpet of peat gravel; (2) A blinding layer
of specifically graded sand placed on the peat gravel; (3) A root zone mixture of graded
sand (80%) and graded peat moss (20%) by volume. The particle size of the component
layers must comply to the exact specification in terms of size, diameter and shape. As sands
contain no nutrients, the management of greens constructed mainly of sand is more exacting
than the traditional soil constructed greens. The results from this project confirmed this
assumption.
Three major objectives were researched in this project: (a) the effect of micro nutrients,
when applied or omitted, on the quality and growth of grass on a green surface; (b) the
encroachment of Poa annua (annual meadow grass) onto the green; and (c) the comparison
of two nitrogen top dressing programmes on sand greens. The detailed results are given in
the text and in the conclusions of this report.European
Union Structural Funds (EAGGF
