TURFGRASS INDUSTRY NEWS
MSU Releases 2 New Bermudagrass Cultivars for Putting Greens Mississippi State University announced on May 6, 2022, that it has developed two new hybrid Bermudagrass cultivars that are unrelated to the commonly used “Tifgreen.” “Te superior performance of these two grasses provides stakeholders with new options in the putting green market,” said Assistant Professor Hongxu Dong, who specializes in turfgrass breeding and genetics. “Tese two grasses are adding novel genetic diversity to the Bermuda grass cultivars, especially to the ones used on putting greens.” He noted that “MSB-264” and “MSB-285” have a more upright leaf orientation than traditional Bermudagrass putting green cultivars. While these are visually similar, they have different genetic compositions. Both are propagated vegetatively and are sterile triploid genotypes, meaning that they do not produce seeds. “Tis has the potential to allow truer putting and to hold golf shots better than existing ultra-dwarf Bermudagrass cultivars,” Dong said. Developed by MAFES scientists in MSU’s Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, the cultivars have proven successful during their growing seasons. Both grasses are available for licensing. To learn more about licensing, contact Jim Mitchell, licensing associate in MSU’s Office of Technology Management, via email at jfm93@msstate. edu or call 662-325-8223.
OSU Announces Two New Turfgrass Varieties According to a May 19 Press Release, Oklahoma State University is unveiling two new turfgrass varieties. OKC1876 and OKC3920 are crosses between common bermudagrass and African bermudagrass. According to Dr. Yanqi Wu, OSU plant and soil sciences professor and plant breeder, the two new varieties have unique genetic identities due to being crossbred from two different types of bermudagrass families. OKC1876 exhibits high turfgrass quality, improves drought resistance, retains excellent fall color, reduces seedheads, and has wide adaptation in southern states. It also demonstrates excellent establishment characteristics, fine texture, high turf density, dark green color, good traffic tolerance and sufficient sod tensile strength for reliable commercial production. It is recommended for use on golf courses, lawns, and other areas. OKC3920, targeted for use on putting greens, shows improved freeze tolerance that is significantly better than ultradwarf putting green bermudagrasses, and it demonstrates high turfgrass quality comparable to ultradwarf cultivars—the current industry standard for warm-season greens-type turfgrass. Te cultivar also shows sufficient establishment characteristics, fine texture, early spring green up, dark green color and ball roll distance approaching that of an ultradwarf bermudagrass. OKC3920 and OKC1876 reproduce vegetatively. Te next step is achieving licensing with sod producers to distribute the product. Te expected initial market availability for the two varieties is in the 2023 growing season, with widespread availability expected around 2025. Te complete release can be
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found at:
https://agresearch.okstate.edu/news/articles/2022/osu-announces- two-new-turfgrass-varieties.html
BIMINI® Territory Grows Bethel Farms’ BIMINI® Bermuda has expanded into five additional states and territories including California, North Carolina, Texas, Georgia, and Kurdistan. Tis is in addition to established BIMINI fields in Florida. BIMINI has been recognized in University Trials and by Golf Superintendents as one of the leading Bermuda varieties. For more information on BIMINI Bermuda or in growing this resilient Bermudagrass, please contact Jonathan Brown at
jbrown@bethelfarms.com.
U.S. Women’s Open Welcomes an All-Female Crew Te 2022 U.S. Women’s Open had an all-female groundskeeping crew again this year! TPI members that participated were Jessica Lenihan (Green Valley Turf ) and Kelly Lynch (PureSeed). Te event was held June 2 to 5 at Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Club in Southern Pines, NC.
Celebrate 25 Years at SiteOne’s Annual Women in the Green Industry Conference SiteOne®
Landscape Supply is hosting its 25th annual
Women in the Green Industry Conference (WIGI) Oct. 6-9, 2022, at Te Westin Riverwalk in San Antonio, Texas. Registration is now open for the four-day professional development event focused on helping women in the green industry flourish. SiteOne founded the original Women in Te Green Industry (WIGI) Conference 25 years ago. Since then, WIGI has been dedicated to the development of professional women in the green industry. Te annual conference is a once-a-year getaway to bond, swap stories, and build a lifetime of industry support. Te women-only event is ideal for business owners, office managers, purchasing agents, installers, field workers, or anyone in the green industry who desires to grow their business and expand their personal horizons. “Te industry is navigating many more challenges than years previous,” said Christina Moore, Sr. Events Manager at SiteOne. “Finding qualified labor for work, navigating rising prices, allocating products to complete jobs—it’s time we pause to help each other flourish despite these dynamic times. It’s important we celebrate and encourage the role women play in the future of the green industry.” WIGI is proud to welcome five dynamic speakers to the stage to cover critical topics in the industry. Attendees will walk away with a variety of lessons, including how to shed one’s self-limiting beliefs, how to identify key players in the market to grow a business, and the foundations of wellness practices to support ones intellectual, occupational, emotional, spiritual, environmental, physical, and social wellbeing. Attendees will also have the opportunity to learn from guest speakers, sponsors, and each other by attending any of the 17
TPI Turf News July/August 2022
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