Ballybunion Links Golf Trial

Ballybunion Links Golf Trial www.barenbrug.co.uk 01359 272000 info@baruk.co.uk

Links Golf Trial BALLYBUNION TRIAL RESULTS SUMMARY Dr David Greenshields Barenbrug Research and Development Manager Greens There is significant variation in performance amongst mixtures and monocultures trialled under golf greens maintenance. The most interesting findings from the trial are: The results suggest the environmental conditions at Ballybunion are conducive for the growth of fine fescue species on golf greens BAR FESCUE was the top performing seed treatment in the trial. o This finding highlights the importance of having a blend of red fescue sub species (slender creeping and Chewings) for year round performance on golf greens. BAR FESCUE is specifically formulated to combine all the individual cultivar characteristics in a synergistic mixture, thus ensuring the mixture is better than the sum of its parts The graphs indicate that Chewings fescues perform better in spring (see results from 1/5/11 assessment) and slender creeping red fescues excel in the summer (1/7/11 assessment) Seed treatments containing bentgrass performed poorly in general. However, this was partly due to some severe Take all patch disease during early establishment, which must be considered when analysing the results. Closer examination of the graphs suggests, in most cases, the bentgrass plots improved dramatically later in the trial The performance of BAR 22 and Hardtop compared to BAR FESCUE may offer support that Hard fescue is unable to maintain performance under 4mm mowing height Fairways Although there is insufficient variation in performance amongst mixtures and monocultures trialled under golf fairway maintenance to offer any firm conclusions, some general points are: The good performance of Hardtop in the fairway trial offers further support to the conclusion that Hard fescue struggled in the greens trial predominantly due to the constraint of the mowing height The performance of BAR RUBRA suggests that the use of strong creeping red fescue in a mixture at 10mm mowing height may be an acceptable compromise for those looking for an economical seed mixture. The negative aspects of this sub species versus Chewings and slender creepers should still be considered

Links Golf Trial DEVELOPMENT PROTOCOL Trial Location: Ballybunion Golf Club Project Facilitator: Mike Hartney Project Evaluator: Neil Pettican Name of Project: Links Golf Trial Goal of Project: Determine the influence of a links environment on cultivars Parameters: Golf green mowing height (G) and fairway/tees height (F) Plot Size: 1.75 x 2 metres, 3 replications Sowing Date: 18 August 2010 End Date: On going, subject to review TREATMENTS G1 G2 G3 BAR All Bent BAR 22 BAR 1 50% BarKing 30% Hardtop 40% Barpearl 50% Heriot 15% Viktorka 40% Bargreen 20% Barcrown 20% Highland 20% Barswing 15% Barbirdie G4 G5 G6 BAR Trio Slender Creeping Red Fescue BAR Duo 40% Barcrown 100% Viktorka 50% BarKing 30% Viktorka 50% Bengal 30% Barpearl G7 G8 G9 BAR 40 Slender Creeping Red Fescue Chewings Fescue 40% Barkoel 100% Barcrown 50% 7FR 222 30% Barcrown 50% Bargreen II 30% Hardtop G10 G11 G12 Hard Fescue BAR 2 BAR Fescue 100% Hardtop 20% Barcrown 25% Barcrown 20% Viktorka 25% Viktorka 15% Barswing 20% Barswing 15% Bargreen II 15% Bargreen II 10% 7FR 222 15% 7FR 222 10% BarKing 10% Heriot

Links Golf Trial F1 F2 F3 BAR Rubra BAR 22 BAR Fairway 40% Bargreen 30% Hardtop 30% Barmalia 25% Barmalia 15% Viktorka 30% Barswing 35% Barustic 20% Barcrown 35% Barsylvia 20% Barswing 5% Highland 15% Barbirdie F4 F5 F6 BAR Trio Slender Creeping Red Fescue BAR Platinum 40% Barcrown 100% Viktorka 30% Bargold 30% Viktorka 25% Viktorka 30% Barpearl 25% Barpearl 20% Bargreen II F7 F8 F9 BAR 40 Slender Creeping Red Fescue BAR 20 40% Barkoel 100% Barcrown 20% Hardtop 30% Barcrown 20% Barcrown 30% Hardtop 25% Barswing 35% Barsylvia F10 F11 F12 Hard Fescue BAR 2 BAR Fescue 100% Hardtop 20% Barcrown 25% Barcrown 20% Viktorka 25% Viktorka 15% Barswing 20% Barswing 15% Bargreen II 15% Bargreen II 10% 7FR 222 15% 7FR 222 10% BarKing 10% Heriot

Links Golf Trial APPLICATION METHOD Nursery area prepared, consolidated, raked and marked prior to seeding. Trial Area: Two sections, (G) Greens Height; (F) Fairway/Tees Height 3 replications of each mixture, plot size 1.75 x 2m Sowing Rate: G 1 & 6: 9g per m 2 G 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 & F 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 & 12 35g per m 2 F 6: 40g per m 2 Sowing Method: by hand at the recommend rate and depth

Links Golf Trial Climate at Ballybunion During the year (17/08/2010 16/08/2011) trial period the climate at Ballybunion was recorded and the following notes the overlying results. The temperature during the period ranged from a high of 16 C in August to a low of 2 C in December, which is in stark contrast to the long term average (1994 2012) of 6 C in December. 1,100mm rainfall fell during the period, which was slightly (50mm) less than previous year but is about the average rainfall compared to previous years.

Greens, Close Mown Trials (Mown at 4mm) TRIAL SUMMARY Greens trial code Establishment Sward density Consistent sward Visual merit Mean Winter colour Summer colour Product G12 BAR FESCUE 6.9 8.0 7.6 7.6 7.7 6.7 6.0 G5 VIKTORKA 5.8 7.0 7.7 7.0 7.2 4.7 6.3 G8 BARCROWN 6.9 7.2 7.4 6.9 7.2 4.0 6.0 G7 BAR 40 6.3 7.4 6.9 6.7 7.0 6.3 4.7 G11 BAR 2 6.6 7.1 6.8 6.4 6.8 4.7 5.7 G4 BAR TRIO 6.2 6.7 7.0 6.2 6.6 4.0 6.7 G9 CHEWINGS FESCUE 5.9 6.1 6.1 6.7 6.3 6.7 3.3 G2 BAR 22 6.2 6.2 5.8 6.1 6.0 5.3 5.3 G3 BAR 1 7.0 6.0 5.7 6.3 6.0 4.7 4.7 G10 HARDTOP 8.0 5.3 5.9 5.2 5.5 7.3 4.0 G6 BAR DUO 4.4 5.6 5.2 4.7 5.1 3.3 8.0 G1 BAR ALL BENT 3.8 3.7 3.6 3.3 3.5 3.3 6.7 Assessment 0 10 weeks 6 months to 1 year 1st March 1st July

Greens, Close Mown Trials (Mown at 4mm) TRIAL DATA

Greens, Close Mown Trials (Mown at 4mm)

Greens, Close Mown Trials (Mown at 4mm)

Fairways, Tees Trials (Mown at 10mm) TRIAL SUMMARY Fairway trial code Establishment Sward density Consistent sward Visual merit Mean Winter colour Summer colour Product F11 BAR 2 7.3 6.9 7.1 7.6 7.2 4.3 6.0 F5 VIKTORKA 5.9 6.7 7.7 7.1 7.1 4.3 7.0 F1 BAR RUBRA 6.8 7.2 6.6 7.3 7.0 5.3 7.3 F10 HARDTOP 6.6 6.6 7.1 7.1 6.9 7.7 6.7 F12 BAR FESCUE 6.7 7.0 6.9 6.9 6.9 6.3 5.7 F7 BAR 40 6.9 7.1 6.2 7.3 6.9 6.7 8.3 F4 BAR TRIO 6.2 6.8 6.8 6.8 6.8 4.7 5.7 F6 BAR PLATINUM 7.3 6.7 6.7 6.9 6.7 7.3 7.7 F8 BARCROWN 6.6 6.9 6.6 6.6 6.7 5.0 7.3 F9 BAR 20 6.7 6.4 6.7 6.6 6.6 5.3 6.7 F2 BAR 22 5.7 6.8 6.3 6.4 6.5 5.0 7.3 F3 BAR FAIRWAY 6.4 6.6 6.0 6.4 6.3 4.3 7.3 Assessment 0 10 weeks 6 months to 1 year 1st March 1st July

Fairways, Tees Trials (Mown at 10mm) TRIAL DATA

Fairways, Tees Trials (Mown at 10mm)

Fairways, Tees Trials (Mown at 10mm)