A sod production field of TifTuf bermuda in Georgia.

2016, followed by Keeneland, Mazama and Pick 4340. Traffic tolerance was evaluated at North

Brunswick, NJ and Knoxville, TN in the trial’s final year. In Knoxville, Barvette HGT, BAR VV 118352 and SRX 2758 had the highest ratings for the year under traffic applications. Barvette HGT and SRX 2758 also performed well under traffic applied at North Brunswick, NJ, showing good canopy fullness ratings after fall traffic applications, along with the entries A06-46 and Aramintha. Data on various diseases such as summer patch

(Magnaporthe poae), dollar spot (Sclerotinia homeocarpa), and crown rust (Puccinia coronata) were reported over the first four years of this trial. However, only data on summer patch, one of the most devastating diseases on Kentucky bluegrass, was reported in 2016 with Raleigh, NC and North Brunswick, NJ submitting data. In six ratings collected by the two locations, not much correlation was seen among the ratings or locations. Only a few entries such as Barvette HGT, A05-TB-382, Pick 033 and SRX 466, finished with good summer patch tolerance scores in each rating. Several entries including, A06-46, Mazama, J-1770 and BAR PP 110358, showed good summer patch tolerance in at least one rating, but were not consistent across the season or among the two locations.

Tall Fescue Tis report utilizes fourth year results from a five

year tall fescue trial, planted in 2012. Te trial contains 116 entries, of which many are still experimental. Year one data typically reflects establishment rate, year two data usually reflects broader cultivar performance, while years three through five often allow us to determine if trends seen in year two are still viable. A final summary brings all the years together and is the best measure of long-term performance.

38 Turfgrass quality ratings again varied by region

and even by state location. Te most separation in performance was noted in some of the seven Transition Zone locations, such as College Park, MD, Columbia, MO, Lexington, KY and Wichita, KS. 4th Millennium SRP, Hot Rod, Avenger II, Regenerate and Traverse 2 SRP, among others performed very well at these locations in 2016, often besting the top performers from the previous trial, Faith and Catalyst. Data from the Northeast was collected at Storrs, CT and two New Jersey locations. Entries like Regenerate, Rebounder, Tor and MET 1 generally performed well in the Northeast where brown patch (Rhizoctonia solani) was active. Otherwise, a shuffling of entries and their performance occurred in the Northeast. Similar to 2015, locations in the South and

Southeast generally did not note large entry differences with anywhere from 50-75 percent of all entries performing statistically similar to the top turfgrass quality score in 2016. An exception to this trend was at Riverside, CA, which showed good entry separation for the first time in this trial. 4th Millennium SRP, Screamer LS, Maestro, PSG-P01 and Technique were some of the highest rated entries in 2016 at the Riverside location. In the Midwest, some significance was noted at

three locations, West Lafayette, IN, Urbana, IL and Mead, NE. A few entries that performed well at all three locations include Regenerate, CCR2, Avenger II and Raptor III. Tolerance to stresses such as traffic, shade, drought,

brown patch and rhizome production are being evaluated throughout the testing period. Intensive traffic was applied on the tall fescue trials at North Brunswick, NJ in 2016. As with the previous years and trial locations, year four data showed very little statistical differences among entries. Fourth year data from evaluations conducted in shade at Carbondale, IL demonstrated more differences among

TPI Turf News July/August 2017