Rutgers University and the USGA are working together to release two new creeping bentgrasses. 'Piper' and 'Oakley' bentgrass will celebrate the 100thanniversary of the Green Section. Charles V. Piper (Photo 1) and Russell A. Oakley (Photo 2) were instrumental in the early days of the Green Section. Mountain View Seed will produce, market, and distribute the new varieties.
Piper and Oakley were well-known U.S. Department of Agriculture experts on grasses. In 1906, a golfer named Dr. W.S. Harban went to Piper and Oakley for help with turfgrass problems at his course. Later, golf course architect C.B. MacDonald asked Piper and Oakley for help growing grass at the National Golf Links of America. Hugh Wilson also sought their assistance while establishing Merion Golf and Cricket Club. This need for information led to the 1917 publication of Turf for Golf Courses by Piper and Oakley.
In 1920, Mr. E. J. Marshall, of the Inverness Club, Toledo, Ohio, saw a need for help solving turf problems on golf courses. Marshall's passion, along with Hugh Wilson and other golf enthusiasts, convinced the USGA Executive Committee to establish the Green Section on November 20, 1920. On February 10, 1921, Piper and Oakley published the first issue of The Bulletin of the Green Section.
From the beginning, Piper and Oakley worked with bentgrass. They established the Arlington Turf Garden at the USDA's Arlington Experiment Farm (Photo 3). This early research location is where the Pentagon is today. The USGA contributed a large part of the funds for their pioneering turf research. By the 1930s, 30,000 square feet was at putting green height. Early work was on stolon plantings of creeping, velvet, and colonial bentgrass strains. There also were plots of various grasses obtained from different bentgrass seed sources.
The Green Section recommended bentgrasses and fine fescues for greens on northern courses. Seeded types included South German, Rhode Island, and colonial bentgrass. Greenkeepers sent promising bentgrass strains to Piper and Oakley from several early golf course greens established by seed. By the 1930s, Dr. John Monteith, Jr. (Photo 4), and Fred V. Grau (Photo 5) conducted the 'pie green' experiments across the country. These experimental greens had 12 or more wedge-shaped sections (Photo 6). Each section had a different strain of the C-series of creeping bentgrass. 'Cohansey', 'Congressional', and 'Toronto' are three creeping bentgrasses that arose from this national test (Table 1).
Professor H. B. ‘Burt’ Musser (Photo 7), Pennsylvania State University, became interested in the grasses available for golf courses. 'Seaside', 'Astoria', 'Highland', or colonial were the seeded bents of the 1930s and 1940s. He wrote that they all contained many individual types, some of which were good and some poor. There was no effort made to breed out the weak plants. So, the turf produced by these was a composite and represented the average for the species.
In 1937, Musser began research on bentgrass leading to the 1954 release of ‘Penncross’. He attempted to concentrate on desirable qualities and reduce weaknesses by controlled breeding. Penncross received favorable performance reports over a very wide range of conditions. The variety also outperformed the other seeded bentgrasses, and it had a wider range of adaptability than individual vegetative strains. These traits made Penncross the most popular putting green variety for 30 years.
In 1959, Musser retired and his graduate student, Dr. Joseph Duich (Photo 8) continued breeding bentgrasses. He released ‘Penneagle’ in the 1970s and ‘Pennlinks’ in the 1980s.
The USGA Green Section increased its support of turfgrass research in 1983. Interest in improved bentgrasses for putting greens and fairways lead to a rapid increase in new varieties. Dr. Dick Skogley, the University of Rhode Island, released 'Providence' for northern climates. Dr. Robert Kneebone licensed his heat-tolerant bentgrasses for 'SR1020'. Dr. Milt Engelke, Texas A&M University, released 'Crenshaw' and 'Cato'. Unfortunately, many of the Texas A&M grasses were very susceptible to dollar spot.
Rutgers University has a long history of cool-season grass breeding. In 1960, Dr. C. Reed Funk started the turfgrass breeding program. He had a productive career that spanned four decades. During his tenure, hundreds of new turfgrass varieties revolutionized the turfgrass industry.
In 1981, Rutgers initiated a long-term creeping bentgrass improvement program. ‘Southshore’ and ‘L-93’ were two varieties developed by the program in cooperation with Dr. Richard Hurley, Lofts Seed, Inc. Dr. Funk retired in 1996, and Dr. Bill Meyer, a commercial turfgrass breeder, joined the Rutgers team and has continued the success of the breeding program.
The National Turfgrass Evaluation Program (NTEP) conducted its first putting green trials in 1989. 'Providence' and 'PRO/CUP' were the only varieties that were better than ‘Penncross’. But, in 1993, there were more than 21 entries that performed better than ‘Penncross’. Yet, many golf course superintendents questioned the usefulness of NTEP data from universities. In 1997, NTEP, the Green Section, and the Golf Course Superintendents of Association of America (GCSAA) conducted golf course testing of new bentgrass varieties. ‘Penn-A1’, 'Penn A-4', and ‘Penn-G2’ were among the top performers and set a new standard for creeping bentgrass.
In 2003, Dr. Stacy Bonos started her career at Rutgers, and one of her objectives was to improve dollar spot resistance in bentgrass. A recent variety from the program is 'Declaration', which has improved dollar spot resistance. Currently, Dr. Bonos is breeding new bentgrass high-performance varieties with multiple disease resistance. Better genetic resistance to common bentgrass disease problems could significantly reduce fungicide use for more sustainable golf. 'Piper' and 'Oakley' bentgrass are excellent creeping bentgrass varieties that will meet this demand.