Recovery of Zoysiagrass Varieties from Divot Injury

Abstract

Although zoysiagrasses (Zoysia japonica Steud., Z. matrella (L.) Merr, and Z. tenuifolia Willd.) provide an excellent golf course fairway or tee surface, their use in areas of intense play may be limited because of their relatively slow recuperative potential. The objective of the following research was to identify zoysiagrass varieties with improved recuperative potential that may be adapted to such situations. Divot injury was simulated in 2003 and 2004 on 24 zoysiagrass varieties maintained under golf course fairway conditions. A digital image of each divot was collected on the day of injury and regularly thereafter until full recovery was reached. Divot images were analyzed for percent green turf cover using digital image analysis to quantify recovery percentages. In both years, ‘Crown,’ ‘Palisades,’ and ‘Zorro’ were among the fastest varieties to recover from injury. ‘El Toro’ had very rapid recovery in 2003, but not in 2004. ‘Meyer’ and ‘Emerald’ were consistently the slowest to recover from injury.

Bermudagrass and Zoysiagrass Cultivar Selection: Part 1, Clipping Yield, Scalping Tendency, and Golf Ball Lie

“…Due to limited work on clipping yield of bermudagrass and zoysiagrass, it is difficult to compare clipping yield results in this study with previous research. The clipping yield rankings of zoysiagrass cultivars were similar to previous rankings on the establishment rate, stolon growth rate, and divot recovery of zoysiagrasses (20,32), where Palisades, El Toro, and Zenith had faster growth than Meyer. Although there were differences among bermudagrass cultivars across collection dates for clipping yield, they generally all had similar clipping yields.…”

Bermudagrass and Zoysiagrass Cultivar Selection: Part 2, Divot Recovery

“…Because research has not been conducted to compare divot recovery of bermudagrass and zoysiagrass in the same experiment, discussion comparing our findings with previous work is limited to tests evaluating single species. Similar to these findings, Karcher et al (4,5) observed cultivar performance differences across collection dates in divot recovery for bermudagrass and zoysiagrass. For divot recovery of bermudagrass in 2003, Karcher et al (4) found that Princess 77, Patriot, and Riviera had faster divot recoveries than Tifsport and Tifway, which is similar to findings of this study on 29 June 2009.…”

“…When comparing the findings of this research with Karcher et al (5), some similarities and differences existed in zoysiagrass divot recovery. Findings presented in this research support the relative fast recovery of Palisades and Zorro; however, Cavalier and Zenith had relatively slower recovery times compared to other cultivars in our experiment than reported in Karcher et al (5).…”

“…as having superior recuperative capacity or rate compared to zoysiagrass ( Zoysia spp.). Karcher et al (4,5) examined the divot recovery on native soil for numerous bermudagrass and zoysiagrass cultivars in separate field studies. Karcher et al (4) reported that Riviera, Princess 77, and ‘Patriot’ bermudagrass each had relatively fast divot recoveries for the cultivars tested during the first year of the experiment.…”

“…However, in the second year's results, there were no differences among Princess 77, Riviera, Tifway, ‘Tifsport,’ and Patriot bermudagrass. In a separate study evaluating zoysiagrass cultivars, Karcher et al (5) reported that Palisades, ‘Cavalier,’ Zenith, and ‘Zorro’ zoysiagrass all had similar divot recovery, while Meyer had a significantly slower divot recovery. El Toro had the fastest divot recovery in one year of the study, but had a relatively slower divot recovery in another year.…”