Recovery of Bermudagrass Varieties from Divot Injury

Abstract

Intensively used turf areas in the southern United States are commonly established to bermudagrass ( Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers. C. dactylon × C. transvaalensis Burtt‐Davy), partly due to its good recuperative potential. However, little scientific data is available regarding recuperative differences among bermudagrass varieties. The objective of the following research was to quantify differences in injury recovery among the forty‐eight bermudagrass entries in the 2002 National Bermudagrass Test of the National Turfgrass Evaluation Program (NTEP). The trial was maintained under typical golf course fairway conditions and divot injury was simulated in 2003 and 2004. A digital image was collected of each divot 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. Although divots recovered more quickly in 2004 than in 2003, differences among varieties remained relatively consistent across years. On average, seeded varieties reached 50% recovery one day faster than vegetatively propagated varieties. Among commercially available varieties, ‘La Paloma’ and ‘Yukon’ were fastest to recover while ‘Tifsport’ and ‘Ashmore’ were among the slowest to recover when averaged across years.