On holes #2, #3 and #17, we struggle annually with the turf on the Jones tee. This is due to the lack of sunlight they receive. Historically, we've resodded this these tees every off-season. Two years ago, I got the idea to try something new...sod them with zoysia grass and immediately begin an aggressive inner-seeding program. The Zoysia would simply act as a mat to protect the ryegrass, bentgrass and rough bluegrass that was seeded into it. The idea was simply survival of the fittest- hoping one of the four species of turf would have a competitive advantage over the others. It worked beautifully, and we went over two years without having to resod. However, this past extreme winter took it's toll on the Zoysia and killed it. Therefore, we are left with thin turf-just the cool season grasses that were seeded into the Zoysia. There is no such grass species that can withstand this much shade.
To establish denser turf, we aerified and seeded #2 and #3 tees today. #17 tee, the worst of the three, will be resodded on Monday. Establishing turf from seed on the 17th tee isn't possible. We continue to do the best we can with these tees given the environment they grow in.
