Scottish greenkeeper Jock Inglis came to Montgomery CC in 1903 and transformed the course from sand greens to bermudagrass.

2001 Leo Feser award candidate

Managing golf greens in the South has evolved over the years since the days when sand was the putting surface of choice. Bermudagrass became the grass of choice for southern greens with the advent of winter overseeding. Southern greenkeepers began propagating the finest natural crosses from their fairways on their greens. Plant breeder Glenn Burton, Ph.D., later formalized this process at the Tifton, Ga., experiment station. Today, plant geneticists continue to improve bermudagrass species for southern greens.

The last 100 years have rushed by, and many accomplishments have been made. In aviation, man flew at Kitty Hawk, moved on to multi-motors, then jets, then rockets, and now we look to Mars and the other planets as places to fly. Golf course management has also soared in the last century.

Bermudagrass, now used on golf courses around the world, evolved as greenkeepers observed the natural crosses in the common bermudagrass fairways and selected those finer strains to plant on the greens. Researchers then refined this process through specific breeding. Later, chemicals and radiation were used to mutate the plants into new species. Today, we see changes to bermudagrass through genetic research. As for the future, we look for a plant with both cool- and warm-season features.

And we thought the rings of Saturn were a mystery.

Southern pioneer
During the first years of the 1900s as golf was being established in the United States, many of the grasses came from England and Scotland, as did the greenkeepers.

Because of the hot weather in the South, bermudagrass became the grass of choice and was found in many pastures, lawns and wayside areas. In 1903, Scottish greenkeeper Jock Inglis came to Montgomery (Ala.) Country Club. The course was founded in 1898 by Maj. F.A. Mahan, and by 1900 had challenge matches with courses in Mobile and Birmingham. When Inglis arrived, most of the greens were sand greens. Inglis transformed the course with bermuda greens, which were said to be the best in the Southeast. Members said he could grow grass on a billiard ball.

In addition to caring for the greens, Inglis worked on design, gave lessons and made clubs. Inglis was so well liked by members that when he died unexpectedly in 1924, Montgomery CC erected a monument honoring his service and dedication. Today, the monument is located on the first tee at Montgomery CC, and clubs made by Inglis hang on the clubhouse walls.

From sand to grass
Sand greens were popular throughout the South because bermudagrass went dormant in the winter, and it required a great deal of work and time to get the greens back in putting condition when the grass began growing in the summer. The development of grass greens in the mid-South came with the ability to overseed the greens in the winter with ryegrass and maintain a decent putting surface year round.

Legendary golf course architect Donald Ross used sand greens when he designed Pinehurst in North Carolina in the early 1900s. It was not until 1936 that grass greens came to Pinehurst on the No. 2 course, and the other courses were converted to grass greens over the next few years. Like many other greenkeepers, Pinehurst's greenkeeper Frank Maples kept a close watch on the common bermudagrass fairways and selected those plants more suitable for growing on greens. An experiment with bentgrass in 1930 proved that summer temperatures at Pinehurst were too hot for the bent to survive.

Members of Montgomery CC were so indebted to Inglis for his improvements to the club they dedicated this monument to him in 1924. Today, the monument stands near the first tee, and clubs Inglis made are displayed in the clubhouse.

With the growth of golf, more courses made the change from sand to grass greens. This was my own experience in 1946 at Senvenue Country Club in Rocky Mount, N.C. Some of Ross' men came and shaped the greens, and we dug sprigs from a nearby pasture and planted the greens. It was all hand labor. We would drop the sprigs into a furrow plowed by a mule, and the next furrow would cover the grass and open the next row to drop sprigs. Our water supply was a 2-inch pipe run over the course with a 3/4-inch hose outlet at each green.

New cultivars
Through the '40s and '50s, many fine grasses were found and used on golf greens. Some of the names were Orman, Gene Tift, Santa Ana, Texas 10 and U-3 bermuda. U-3 bermuda was discovered by L. Hall in Savannah, Ga., and sent to Beltsville, Md., for the USDA trials. It proved to be a winter-hardy plant produced from seed and was widely used to reseed common bermudagrass greens in the spring as the overseeded ryegrass would die out from the heat. This led the USGA's Fred Grau, Ph.D., to come to Glenn Burton, Ph.D., at the Tifton, Ga., experiment station in 1946 and ask for his help in developing better putting greens. The rest is history.

Glenn Burton, Ph.D., tested hundreds of strains of bermudagrass at the Southeast Turf Research Center in Tifton, Ga., before offering Tifway and Tifgreen to golf courses in warm climates.

There were three main reasons that led Burton to this specific work. From his start in 1936 at the Tifton station, he first had to research the chromosome numbers and behavior, reproduction behavior and the flowering characteristics of warm-season grasses. This basic research led the way to find the best adapted species, and thus plant breeding to produce the desired product. In addition to research, Burton also invented equipment. Burton's methodology brought the USGA to him. The result was the development of innovative breeding techniques and the production of new cultivars. This was like the Jet Age in flying.

From Tiflawn to Tifdwarf
The first grass cut out of Tifton was Tifton-57 or Tiflawn. It was one of 12 surviving plants of the 500 established before World War II from seed with improved characteristics over common seeded bermudagrass. In starting his turf program, Burton traveled around the world to find new species and varieties and also collect samples from many of the better golf greens in the South. From his samples, he crossed an African grass (Cynodon transvaalensis) with a grass from the No. 4 green at Charlotte (N.C.) Country Club (Cynodon dactylon). The result was Tifton 328 or Tifgreen. It was a boon to golf -- the equivalent of breaking the sound barrier. After much testing on golf courses at the Tifton station, Tifgreen was released in 1956 and later used all over the world. In the next decade, a natural mutation was found in some Tifgreen greens. It was identified, given the name Tifdwarf, tested for green maintenance and released in 1965 as another choice for putting greens.

Golfers at Montgomery (Ala.) CC prepare to play in the course's first tournament in 1898.

Other grasses to come from Burton's work are Tifton 419, Tifway, Tifgreen II and Tifway II. The Tifton station also produced TifEagle from the work of Wayne Hanna, Ph.D. With these developments, the golf course management industry was shooting rockets to the moon. Through the years many other researchers and experiment stations have developed the variety of grasses seen on golf courses today, mainly due to Burton's publishing the methods he used in his work. In 1958, GCSAA honored Burton with its Distinguished Service Award.

Building a better green
Another large part of the turf industry to evolve with these new grasses was the growing and planting of new golf courses. Southern Turf Nursery was one company that promoted and improved bermudagrass for golf course use.

Fred Maples, superintendent at Pinehurst for more than 20 years, kept a close watch on the bermudgrass when it was introduced on the No. 2 course in the 1930s.

Tifgreen to the South was what Penncross was to the North. Both were bringing greatly improved putting greens and other turf areas. Soon Pennfine ryegrass, Jamestown fescue and other options came along. Techniques changed with the use of chemicals and radiation to create mutations, but the old standby procedure of selecting a plant found in a remote place with special characteristics to improve golf conditions has never become obsolete.

In the 1950s and '60s, the USGA was looking for ways to build a better golf green. A set of specifications was developed to help drainage in greens and reduce compaction on top, both of which help the grass grow. Superintendents were also given many new resources to help in course management: equipment, plant protectants, nutrient sources and cultivating knowhow.

As the century came to a close, super dwarf grasses came to the market like rockets fired into outer space. The As, Gs, L-93, Crenshaw and other bentgrasses, plus Tifeagle, Champion; MSU; other bermudagrasses and all the others are available for the choosing. As more and more grasses become available, superintendents will find ways to manage them.

We have truly come a long way from the advent of grass greens to today's "fast" putting surfaces. Now we are really flying.

Palmer Maples Jr., CGCS, is a retired superintendent living in Lawrenceville, Ga. He is a 42-year member and past president (1975) of GCSAA.