A golf writer once said that the most boring interview he ever sat through was a great player going on and on about the pros and cons of playing on poa annua grass. So, this is a test to see how soon your eyes glaze over as we have a look at some of the most common types of grass grown on golf courses. 

A course’s grass substantially affects how it plays, so let’s have a look at the playing characteristics of common grasses.

Course designers choose grasses that will thrive in the course’s particular environment.

You will often find fescue on seaside links courses. It’s a hardy, drought resistant grass that is easy to maintain and requires less watering. 

Bentgrass is normally found on courses with cooler temperatures, Inmountain areas ryegrass is often the choice. In warmer temperatures Bermuda grass.

It’s useful to recognise different golf course grasses to understand their playing characteristics, the fairway lies and the challenges they pose in the rough. 

It’s also important from a shot-making point of view to know how each grass type affects your lie and the action of the clubhead on the ball. Here are some of the main grasses:

Bent grass: This is a cool season grass with a fine leaf blade texture that is used mostly for fairways. Bent grass doesn’t thrive in hot and humid conditions and requires steady watering. On the fairways it produces tight lies. Bent grass isn’t used in the rough as it is a fine bladed grass.

Bermuda grass: A warm weather grass with broad, coarse leaf blades, it is used on both fairways and rough and grows well in tropical climes. It grows well in hot and humid conditions thriving on less water than bent grass. When maintained at fairway height Bermuda grass allow the ball to sit up well and provides a little clubhead resistance. In the rough Bermuda is stiff and wiry and will grab or twist a clubhead.

Poa Annua: This grass thrives under moist conditions. It often grows alongside fescue or bent grass. Agronomists think that it grows 40 percent quicker than bent grass and produces patchy, non-uniform fairways and rough areas. It has a short life cycle, appearing in the Spring. It has a sticky, clumpy irregular quality and because it is so fast growing and growing alongside other grasses it provides an unpredictable playing surface, particularly around the collar of the greens.

Fescue: This cool season grass has a coarse leaf blade texture and thrives by the sea. It is often found on British Isles courses and is associated with links courses. A finer version of fescue is often used by designers for the rough grass as it is easier to escape from than other cool season grasses such as blue grass tall fescue is useful as a rough grass and produces a contrast with the fairways. Fine fescue on the fairways provides a firm lie which makes the ball travel shorter distances.

Kikuyu Grass: This all season grass found on the West coast of America; it has a thick wiry blade. As a rough grass, kikuyu’s strong wiry texture will grab the clubhead. If left unmaintained it is a very difficult grass to escape from.

Ryegrass: is a cool season grass thriving under most conditions except heat and humidity. It grows quickly and is often used to overseed Bermuda grass fairways and rough areas in the winter months. As a fairway surface, ryegrass produces lush grass in a short period of time because it holds moisture well. Used for rough grass it can cause clubhead resistance.