The above photo shows what our typical tees look like on any given day. We have extremely small teeing surfaces for the amount of play the course receives. It is critical we have a viable divot mix that keeps moisture and doesn't dry out quickly.
The divot in the above photo is typical of the green mix we use. I rarely see seed growing in this mix unless we go through an extremely wet period. The decision was made years ago by the membership to go to a "Green" colored divot mix to look aesthetically pleasing and be user friendly. The problem is, this mix is not a good medium for growing bentgrass from seed.
I have finally found a divot mix that I will be mixing with the green sand (above right) to create a much better growing medium for the bentgrass seed. We will be mixing the two soild above to create a divot mix that will not dry out as fast and will promote excellent bentgrass seed germination. This I believe in turn will allow our divots to heal up and fill in much better that just the plain old green sand. The down side is it won't look as "Green" as the previous mix but it will actually grow grass!
Mike O'Neill, GCS
