Safety On The Job: Six Steps To Adopting A Culture Of Safety
Turf Editors
New Celebration Hybrid™ Bermudagrass Released By Mississippi State University
Mississippi State University’s Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station officially released Celebration Hybrid™ Bermudagrass at the 2022 Turfgrass Research Field Day held in Starkville, MS. The new cultivar is the first release out of the “Celebration X” breeding program, which stemmed from the idea of cross-pollinating industry standard Celebration® Bermudagrass with numerous attractive Bermudagrass genotypes collected and maintained over the years at MSU to create new grasses. The goal of the program was to take the top characteristics of Celebration and develop new grasses with better cold tolerance, a finer texture, fewer seed heads, and less thatch. These grasses will be used in home lawns, golf courses, parks, and sports fields across the country and around the world. The Celebration X breeding program was initiated in 2014 as a partnership between MSU and Sod Solutions, a turfgrass research, development, and marketing company. Celebration Hybrid is the initial release from the Celebration X Program with more to be released next year and will have limited commercial availability by late Summer 2024. Celebration’s ability to block well, resist drought, and endure shade better than other Bermudas has made it one of the best options on the market over the past two decades. Five grasses from the Celebration X program were chosen to be entered into the National Turfgrass Evaluation Program’s 2019 National Bermudagrass Test. This is a five-year trial being conducted at universities across the nation and experimental varieties are evaluated along with commercial varieties. Progress reports for 2020 and 2021 have ranked ...
At Desert Mountain, The Grass Truly Is Greener
With seven golf courses to choose from, the members of Desert Mountain—the exclusive Scottsdale, AZ luxury community and private club—are never at a loss for chances to tee it up. But as of this fall, thanks to some changes in the grasses used and maintenance procedures, those courses are greener, more environmentally friendly, and offer more playing experiences than ever. “All seven of our courses are open and green from November 1 to June 1, which is when the most members are here and the weather is spectacular,” explained Shawn Emerson, Desert Mountain’s Director of Agronomy. “We asked the question, ‘Would our members rather play golf in October or August?’ We decided to switch some of our courses to cool-season grasses so they can play all year-round on the best possible conditions.” To accomplish that, some of the golf courses have been re-grassed while others stayed as they were, with a Bermuda grass base. This creates greater variety while allowing alterations to the maintenance schedule, so more courses are open and green at the best times. It also gives Desert Mountain the distinction of not only having the most golf courses in the Arizona desert, but the greenest courses in the desert, as well. Particularly as the weather gets more comfortable, members return from summer travel, and the golf season gets rolling. “Until two years ago, all our courses had warm season Bermuda grass fairways and tees, which had to be overseeded in the fall,” said Emerson. “They were ...
