SUSTAINABILITY has become a buzzword of the golf industry these days. There’s no way around the fact that golf needs a lot of resources. Golf courses use a lot of land and golf holes need to be maintained to a certain standard to remain faithful to the shot values envisioned by the course designer. To maintain an environment using imported turf grass species requires all manner of artificial means to protect the club’s precious investment—fertilizers, herbicides and other additives, as well as aggressive manual weeding in certain instances.
Since most of the imported turf grasses used by modern golf courses are Bermudas of one variation or another, it is, therefore, surprising that so little attention has been paid to our indigenous Bermuda variety—zoysia matrella, also known as Philippine Bermuda or Manila grass.
It has not been totally ignored by the local golf industry, but its use has been limited to green surfaces in the past. Wack Wack East, Canlubang, Calatagan, all the military golf courses and most of the older golf courses use zoysia exclusively on the greens. It wasn’t until the Ayala Corp. built both Anvaya Cove Golf and Sports Club and Southlinks Golf Club that zoysia has seen use as a fairway grass.
Zoysia matrella, or Manila grass, is considered by many to be the ultimate turf grass. It has an excellent dark green color, very fine leaves, a low mowing requirement, good wearing ability, selective herbicide tolerance and tolerance for low-light situations. Multiple trials have demonstrated its suitability for a wide range of environments including salt-affected and acid soils.
Zoysia matrella grows slowly and always looks inviting. It can be mowed short to achieve a bowling green appearance, between 20 millimeters and 30 mm or left un-mown as a feature grass. It has a soft feel, is thick under foot and has small inconspicuous seed heads. It is one of the most ascetically appealing of all turf grasses and suits presentation areas with low light or full-sun. It is suitable for sites affected by shade, salt or acid soils. Due to its high silica levels it can tolerate high traffic areas.
In golf course applications, zoysia exhibits slightly different playing characteristics that its imported turf rivals. On putting greens, zoysia doesn’t get much love because of the aggressiveness of its grain. It makes putting difficult and requires local knowledge on how much the grain will affect the direction the ball rolls. So much easier to putt on micro-Bermudas since none of these varieties exhibit much grain.
Around the greens is where one needs to pay attention. If you’re chipping into the grain on zoysia, you need to make perfect contact, or the grain will grab the clubhead and inhibit its path through the hitting area. Using the bounce of the wedge usually works but you need to make a determined strike at the ball.
On iron shots, zoysia exhibits a bit more resistance than say, Tifton 419. Zoysia’s roots run parallel to the ground and thus inhibit the clubhead’s path through the turf. A shallower angle of attack works well as does a determined strike through the hitting zone.
There are many golf courses in central Thailand that have now transitioned to zoysia matrella after being planted, originally, and not so many years ago, to Bermuda grass. The conversion process happened naturally, producing the type of zoysia surfaces now found at Phoenix Golf and Country Club in Pattaya. Again, as at Thana City, the zoysia was not planted, but it overtook and overwhelmed the bermuda grass that was planted when this course, a Denis Griffiths design, was built.
One can also find almost complete conversion that happened naturally, or was encouraged by the course’s management, at Bangkok’s Summit Windmill Golf Club (designed by Nick Faldo) and Green Valley Country Club (Robert Trent Jones Jr. design). And at Thai Country Club (Denis Griffiths design), which was planted to seashore paspalum (Paspalum vaginatum) in the 1990s, the extensive rough is now almost entirely zoysia.
Tagaytay Highlands is the first golf course in the country to have fully converted to zoysia matrella. Originally planted with Tifton 419 on the fairways and tifdwarf on the greens, the imported turf grasses were no match for zoysia in the hyper environment of the golf course. The conversion did not seem to affect the course’s playability in the slightest. The fairways are perfect, and the greens roll true but exhibit the grain that is zoysia’s trademark. Still, this isn’t a bad thing. The course is beautiful and in the pink of health.
GOLF Magazine’s Top 100 Courses in the World lists three courses in Asia that have warm-season grass on tees and fairways. All three of these courses, Hirono Golf Club, Tokyo Golf Club and Kawana Hotel Fuji Course, use zoysia (called korai shiba in Japanese) for tees and fairways, and in the case of Kawana, this grass is used on the greens, as well.
There is a reason that zoysia matrella is used on so many of the best courses. It is the grass that doesn’t die in these conditions. That means it can be maintained in any way the greenkeeper and club wish to present the playing surfaces, without incurring excessively high maintenance costs.
Bermuda grass has long been noted as not performing well in East and Southeast Asia because of the cloudy conditions so common in this part of the world. The numerous courses planted to Bermuda grass in the 1990s that have seen the playing surfaces convert naturally to zoysia are ample proof of that.
The fact that zoysia replaces Bermuda grass and seashore paspalum in Asia gives some indication that the grass is well-adapted to this environment. That is no surprise; the ubiquity of zoysia in East and Southeast Asia is what one expects, for the grass is native to this region. The climate in this part of the world, as it influences the growth of warm-season grasses, is distinguished by relatively low amounts of photosynthetically active radiation.
Because zoysia is native to these conditions and thrives in such a climate, it can be maintained as a links-style surface with a low mowing height at a slow growth rate throughout the year. For Bermuda grass and seashore paspalum, because of their relatively poor performance during periods of low light, their growth must be stimulated at an artificially high rate during times of adequate light.
How does zoysia work in practical terms? We visited Southlinks GC to find out. The fairways and primary rough at Southlinks is all zoysia. The fairways showed just a hint of brown as the wet season was almost nonexistent this year. But it didn’t hinder playability at all. The ball sits up nicely on the fairways of Southlinks offering a variety of options for the golfer. It is a bit firm going through the turf, but it isn’t something most golfers will notice. The fairways were firm and yielded good amounts of roll. Our guests from the United States were very impressed and loved their time at Southlinks.
All of which begs the question; why aren’t more of our golf courses covered in zoysia? The conditions at Tagaytay Highlands prove beyond a doubt that the playing experience on zoysia is on a par with the best imported turf grasses. It is easy to care for and requires little inputs from the club. It is appropriate ground cover from tee to green and its hardiness means that the superintendent can focus on presenting the desired conditions. It is a sturdy, hardy grass that is perfectly suited for duty on the golf course. Ubiquitous as it is, it seems just a matter of time before it dominates the golf scene in Asia and the Philippines.
Image credits: Mike Besa