St Ives Golf Club commissioned Mark and Nigel Ely (directors of Ely Golf Int. Ltd) to build a new 18-hole course close to its long-established base in rural Cambridgeshire in 2007.

A heavy clay site has proved challenging to work with, but has also provided the opportunity to build an inland links-type course which blends in well with the surrounding farmland. “The architect’s design involved moving soil to lift the fairways and using the excavated areas to create wetlands, which supports an incredible array of bird life,” explains Mark.

Greens have been constructed to USGA specification, using pure sand to improve the poor topsoil, with full herringbone drainage and irrigation installed. Even the fairways and surrounds have been sand capped, while a multitude of lakes add to the links feel.

Course manager Phil Gates decided to use Velvet Bents to seed the greens, with British Seed Houses’ Avalon and Vesper blend Level Par being selected.

Phil had successfully managed Velvet Bents at his previous course, Trentham Golf Club, and was keen to use them again. Level Par requires few nutrients and has a low environmental impact, ideal for such an idyllic setting.

“We were happy with that, Mark comments, “We have a good relationship with British Seed Houses and have always found the products to be excellent.”

BSH fescue and ryegrass mixtures A10 and A12 were chosen for the fairways and the all-fescue A13 for the roughs, creating attractive movement in the breeze.

The fairways were the first to be seeded in 2007, but bad weather delayed the establishment of the greens until the following year, and again the course posed some questions for Ely Golf Int. Ltd.

“It is an extremely windy site, so can be difficult to get seeds to establish – you really have to pick a calm day,” Mark explains “We used a Blec drop seeder along with manual irrigation to back up the piped system. The seeds were up in around eight days.”

He comments that establishment was highly satisfactory with the greenkeepers able to roll and then mow within three weeks.

“I’m very pleased with how the mixtures have performed. Once we have the tees established, the course will open this year and will offer an impressive venue for golf with its wetland features. British Seed Houses have visited to see how the seeds are coming on, which is just one example of their attention to detail.”

The three varieties each bring benefits to different markets, from golf to summer sports and turf growing to landscaping.

With their strong performance on golf courses, Creeping Bents are on every greenkeeper’s shopping list, and the revolutionary 007 variety has a licence to thrill. Developed from no less than 24 parent plants, 007 offers superior turf quality, eliminates winter stress discolouration and is highly competitive against poa annua.

Highly versatile – it is suitable for use on greens, tees and fairways, as a complete reseed or for overseeding -  007 has enhanced Dollar Spot resistance, and offers vigorous, uniform growth. Moderate density allows fertiliser and top dressings to be incorporated, but this variety also cuts maintenance bills due to lower fertiliser requirements and reduced need for fungicides. It also adapts well to close mowing on greens.

“This variety is likely to challenge all other creeping bents on the STRI list,” suggests British Seed Houses’ Simon Taylor. “It is ideal for golf courses looking for the excellent performance of Creeping Bent but without the high inputs.”

Finding a top quality perennial ryegrass that is suitable for a range of applications can be a challenge, but British Seed Houses has hit the jackpot with Escapade.
A brand new amenity Perennial Ryegrass for spring 2010, Escapade has high shoot density and a very fine leaf which blends well with fescues, giving a luxuriant, attractive sward.

Offering rapid recovery from wear and a reduced requirement for repair after a major tournament or public event, Escapade can also help turf growers to improve the saleability of their products. With exceptional visual merit and uniform summer and winter greenness, it would be a good choice for high profile lawns at busy hospitality venues.

Low maintenance costs are also part of the package, with excellent resistance to Red Thread.

“A high performance Perennial Ryegrass, Escapade is an ideal choice for summer sports and quality lawns and is likely to be popular for turf production,” comments Simon Taylor.

Turf managers looking for a low maintenance variety should investigate AberFleece Sheeps Fescue, developed for landscaping, ornamental lawns and even golf roughs. Giving a natural grassland appearance, AberFleece is very fine leaved in texture, slow growing and tolerant of poor soil condition.
Its low maintenance requirement makes Aberfleece ideal for highways, verges and embankments, and it is also drought tolerant, cutting the workload and water bills in a dry summer.

Further savings can be made due to AberFleece’s resistance to common turf diseases.
“AberFleece is going to be a real winner as it can be used in so many applications, and will significantly cut costs as it requires so little maintenance,” says Simon Taylor.
Trust British Seed Houses to start 2010 in style with three very diverse and very promising new varieties.

Even should the great British weather fail to deliver Sahara-like conditions, the cost of irrigation water remains a major concern in these economically constrained times.
Simply rethinking grass varieties to select the least thirsty could provide a solution, and trials of Velvet Bentgrasses have shown that they can deliver impressive water efficiency.
The study, ‘Minimum Water Requirements for Creeping, Colonial and Velvet Bentgrasses under fairway Conditions’ by Michelle DaCosta and Bingru Huang was published online Dec 2nd 2005.
This trial set out to determine and compare minimum water requirements for maintaining acceptable quality fairways established  with Colonial, Creeping and Velvet Bentgrasses.
Plots of each bentgrass species were irrigated to replace 100%, 80%, 60% and 40% ETa  with results recorded in winter and summer.
Results were measured by recording and comparing soil moisture content, Turf quality and plant chlorophyll levels/colour (a common indicator of plant health) in all cases.
Velvet Bentgrass plots retained higher soil moisture content than both Creeping and Colonial Bentgrasses under all deficit regimes.
Richard Brown of British Seed Houses, who are sole European distributors of Velvet Bents, Avalon, Vesper and Level Par says: “This demonstrates a greater water efficiency than other bent grasses.
“At our seminar The Changing Climate in Turf Culture held at Celtic Manor in 2007 we learned from Arwyn Harris of the Met Office that all credible predictions pointed toward little change in average annual rainfall in the UK, but that this rain would increasingly come in deluges followed by long dry periods.
“The ability of a species to make use of rainwater from these deluge periods, not only cuts costs but can also make golf courses more socially acceptable where public opinion is turning against the excessive use of irrigation, especially close to urban areas.”
“Logically therefore species such as Velvet Bentgrass that make the most efficient use of soil moisture will be the grasses of the future.”
Turf quality in dry periods and its effect on both appearance and playability is a major concern for course managers, and the trials studied the performance of the different species. The researchers measured  quality from 1-9  (1 being worst brown and desiccated,  9 being best, green and dense. 6 considered a minimal acceptable turf quality).
The quality of Colonial and Creeping Bentgrass declined below the minimal acceptable quality (6.0) under 60% ETa irrigation, while Velvet Bentgrass maintained acceptable turf quality for most of the summer period but started to decline during the final week of the treatment period.
Irrigation at 40% ETa had adverse effect on all three species in the summer, but the turf quality of Velvet was maintained at a higher level for a longer period of time than that for Colonial and Creeping Bentgrasses.
“Rather than just being a visual attribute, turf quality is an indicator of health and growth. High turf quality makes for cleaner cutting and an improved playing surface,” says Richard. “Healthy turf which resists drought stress is also less susceptible to disease.”
Velvet Bentgrass maintained the highest chlorophyll readings – and thus the best colour - under the same irrigation regimes.
Conclusions of the study were that Velvet Bentgrass plots retained greener colour, higher chlorophyll content, and lower soil moisture depletion than Creeping and Colonial Bentgrass under deficit irrigation regimes. These results indicated that Velvet Bentgrass had lower water requirements than the other bentgrass species.
Richard Brown comments: “Predictions about our changing climate and its effects on grass variety selection have been reiterated by Prof A J Turgeon of Penn State University. When speaking at our seminar he highlighted limitations in the persistence of red fescues as temperatures increased, and suggested that UK greenkeepers may need to switch from managing fine fescues and Browntop Bentgrass to Creeping and Velvet Bentgrasses in the future.”