Season and genotype influence golf ball roll distance on creeping bentgrass

Golfers are demanding increased ball roll distances on a daily basis, but cultural practices to achieve this often are detrimental to the green, One option for increasing ball roll distance without altering cultural practices may be to select creeping bentgrass genotypes that provide less resistance to ball roll, Studies were conducted at the John Seaton Anderson Turfgrass and Ornamental Research Facility near Ithaca, Neb., and at the Rocky Ford Turfgrass Research Facility in Manhattan, Kans., to determine genotype and seasonal influences on golf ball roll distance, Eighteen creeping bentgrass (Agrostis palustris Huds,) genotypes were evaluated, Genotype was not a significant source of variability, but the location x season interaction was, Significant seasonal differences in ball roll occurred at both locations, Ball roll distances for spring, summer, and fall were 98, 15, and 31 cm greater at the Nebraska test location than at the Kansas site, Correlations between turfgrass visual quality and ball roll distance were not significant, Therefore, the use of genotypes exhibiting high turfgrass visual quality will not necessarily result in longer ball rolls, Since there were no season x genotype or genotype x location interactions, ball roll distance on genotypes at each location changed similarly with season, Genotype selection appears to have little influence on ball roll distance under the conditions tested at these two locations.