locations. It is possible that several of these entries may end up as suitable alternatives for bermuda on lower input greens in the southern to mid-central U.S. Te two seashore paspalum entries showed excellent

establishment and reasonable quality thus far. UGS 143 and the standard entry SeaDwarf performed very similarly at almost all locations in 2015. Also, as expected, both seashore paspalum entries died at the northern locations of Lexington, KY, and Bloomington, IN.

Ball roll measurements were collected at most

locations in 2015. However, only two locations (Jay, FL, and Mississippi State, MS) recorded our minimum threshold of about 100 inches of roll (250 cm) using the stimpmeter (on at least one rating date). Only the bermuda entries Tifeagle, FAES 1302 and CTF-B10 achieved ball roll distances of at least 100 inches at both locations. None of the zoysia or seashore paspalum entries rolled at least 100 inches, however, that could be due to differences in management needs.

Tis sign informs golfers about the 2013 USGA/NTEP warm-season putting green trial at Rancho Mirage, CA.

several locations in 2014. And several trial locations did not establish properly, or were set back by the winter of 2013, therefore, not a great deal of quality, density, disease and ball roll data could be collected during the first two years. Te winter of 2014-15 was also colder than normal in some locations, which delayed some entry development and hence, collection of some of the more advanced data parameters. Also, various issues led to the unfortunate abandonment of the trial at Tequesta, FL. In 2015, several experimental bermudagrass entries

performed equal to, or better than our standard entries Tifdwarf, Tifeagle and Mini-Verde at some locations. MSB-264 and MSB-285, experimentals from Mississippi State University have performed very well thus far at several of the more southern locations. Other experimentals such as 08-T-18, 11-T-861, FAES 1302 and OKC-16-13-8 have shown good turf quality at several locations. And the newly commercial cultivar ‘Sunday’ has finished in the top turf quality statistical group at eight of the ten locations. Significant differences in genetic color, density, leaf texture and fall color retention were noted among entries, which largely led to the quality ratings separation. For zoysia in 2015, several experimental entries

produced turf quality that rivaled many of the bermudagrasses. DALZ 1308 was one of the best zoysia entries in 2015, finishing in the top statistical group at every location, including the most northern location (Bloomington, IN). Other entries from Texas A&M – Dallas, including DALZ 1306, DALZ 1307 and DALZ 1309 were also consistent performers. Commercially available L1F was a top performer at a few southern

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St. Augustinegrass St. Augustinegrass is a species where several older cultivars are still competitive in the marketplace.

Floratam, developed by the University of Florida and Texas A&M and released in 1973, Raleigh, a cold tolerant cultivar and newer releases Mercedes and Palmetto still dominate the U.S. market. In some areas, sod producers grow and market their own local selections while there are still common-type cultivars, like Texas Common sold extensively in some markets. Our most recently completed st. augustinegrass trial

included three standard entries (Floratam, Raleigh, and Mercedes) and three experimental entries, planted at five locations. A new trial has recently been developed and established, but no new data will be available until 2017. Terefore, data from 2007-2012 is the latest and most useful NTEP information on st. augustinegrass and what we are using for this report. Turf quality data from 2007-2012 at Gainesville, FL,

and Griffin, GA, showed no statistical differences among any entries. Turf quality ratings averaged over the same period from Mississippi State, MS, Raleigh, NC, and College Station, TX, did however, show some statistical differences. At Mississippi State, MS, DALSA 0406, Mercedes and Raleigh finished in the top statistical group, with the same three cultivars plus Captiva finishing in the top statistical group at Raleigh, NC. At College Station, TX, only Captiva did not finish in the top statistical group. Terefore, DALSA 0406 was the only experimental entry with statistically comparable quality ratings to Mercedes, Raleigh and Floratam. 'DALSA 0406' had more winter injury at Raleigh,

NC, than Raleigh and Mercedes, but DALSA 0406 showed comparable grey leaf spot ratings to Mercedes and Raleigh. Captiva and DALSA 0602 had the highest grey

TPI Turf News July/August 2016