Questions:
1. What are advantages/disadvantages of both?
2. Which is the best in Texas climate?
3. What and Where are the best greens you have putted on in Texas?

billionaire said:

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Questions:
1. What are advantages/disadvantages of both? Bent creates the best putting surface, as the name implies. Flat, true, and fast. Makes intermediate length putts easier, IMO. Make sure it's online, give it a little nudge, and it'll track to the hole. Bermuda is suited to the climate and has a cultivar for practically every application, from the rough to the green. You can plant an entire course in bermuda, just not the shade.

2. Which is the best in Texas climate? Bermuda, no question. Bent hardly has any business in TX but we do go to a lot effort to make it work. One is a warm season turf, one is cool season. You can guess which.

3. What and Where are the best greens you have putted on in Texas? Grew up playing bentgrass greens in Brownwood of all places. Still some of the best surfaces to putt on, though I probably wouldn't say the best.

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Celebration bermuda!! Where you at, I can deliver pallets for you if needed. Image coming soon.

High traffic and shade tolerant

C ROC N said:

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Celebration bermuda!! Where you at, I can deliver pallets for you if needed. Image coming soon

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https://ibb.co/rsQJgTM

Two weeks after installation

As a putting surface?

Mini verde bermuda is the best in Texas I have putted on.

Bent struggles big-time with the heat and also struggles to recover from ballmarks. It does beat older generations/hybrids of bermuda, but the newer versions are excellent

Celebration for a putting surface?

Where was the mini verde?

Pecan Hollow, Texas Star, Stonebriar CC, among many others. I think A&M campus is now mini verde. Most built or redone in the last decade seem to be using it

Pecan Hollow has earned a rep of having the best greens in DFW for a public course

And those Pecan Hollow greens had been standing up under a crazy amount of traffic. I doubt any course gets more rounds

http://www.tifeagle.com/golf.html

billionaire said:

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As a putting surface?

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Both chipping and putting. Can cut down to 1/4 to 1/8 of an inch. I cut mine about 3/16ths. 6 inches of pea gravel, 6 inches of sugar sand/ black kow mix. Fertilizer every two weeks.

Aerate every six weeks and topdress with sugar sand. I get a workout mowing it every two days!!

Same for me, which is why I "feel at home" putting at Colonial.

But as mentioned, ball marks seem to be an issue. You must be part of that $6 group that doesn't fix any of them!

Bent > Bermuda

I fix my own and usually one or two more. That's just "how I was raised."

Have given divot tools to a number of my playing partners as well, so they'll have them. Rarely see anyone else using one though.

A long time ago The Falls near Columbus had bent grass greens. Best greens I've played around here (Houston) were at Golfcrest in Pearland and they're some type of Bermuda grass. Want something different play Blackjack out in Big Bend. I believe they use paspalum? Does well with high salt content of the water out there and dry conditions. It's like carpet in the fairways and tee boxes and the ball sits up real nice.

I think good bent is always better than good Bermuda. Question of course is how many days you can have good bent in Texas.

The new Hyrdonics at Colonial in two years will hopefully go a long way toward showing you can keep it good in Texas.

Most consistent greens I've putted on in TX is Moody. They always seem to be in great shape.

Not the best greens in TX but SFA in Sealy has the greens pretty damn good right now. Hard to hold the ball in the afternoons because they get firm but they are rolling smooooth and fast.

Champions Bermuda is the best putting surface anywhere. Fast, true, heat tolerant. Not thirsty.

Bent is fantastic but so damn expensive to maintain.

I'm surprised you can cut celebration Bermuda so short. Mine looks great and I've cut down to 1" ... but it did not look dense enough to go lower on a consistent basis.


My favorite to put on is bent. Seem to play great golf on bent.

evestor1 said:

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I'm surprised you can cut celebration Bermuda so short. Mine looks great and I've cut down to 1" ... but it did not look dense enough to go lower on a consistent basis.

Read some of the research data from I believe Florida University.

My favorite to put on is bent. Seem to play great golf on bent.

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DannyDuberstein said:

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And those Pecan Hollow greens had been standing up under a crazy amount of traffic. I doubt any course gets more rounds

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I immediately thought of Pecan Hollow after reading question 3 on the OP post. Definitely the best public course greens that I played on in DFW when living there. Fun setup of a course too.

I've cut mine down to 1/4" and still looks fantastic, although 3/8-1/2" seems to be the sweet spot for my yard. It is insane how dense it is that low though. It needs a verticut twice a year.

Cutting at .5" or 3/8" also really allows the grass to spread like wildfire vs 1" hoc too.

Woodforest probably has the some of the best greens I've putted on in Texas.

The time I was invited to Carlton Woods, Fazio (Creekside), was probably the most pure/fast greens I've putted on in Texas. The newer strains of Bermuda are just amazing, and I prefer them to almost anything other than colder climate Bent greens.

Poot said:

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Woodforest probably has the some of the best greens I've putted on in Texas.

The time I was invited to Carlton Woods, Fazio (Creekside), was probably the most pure/fast greens I've putted on in Texas. The newer strains of Bermuda are just amazing, and I prefer them to almost anything other than colder climate Bent greens.

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Yep...the good bermuda they now have available is better than just about every option of bent for Texas. I'd imagine the bent at Colonial is going to be the best in Texas but not many other spots have that budget & ability. The new greens at Gleneagles King's course in Plano are champion bermuda and they're awesome. Also Zyosia is great (but also expensive). Escondido, Whispering Pines, Bluejack all have it amongst other places.

One note I forgot... When Golf Club of Houston hosted the PGA tour and they completely sold out to the Rye overseed, those were immaculate. HOWEVER, due to how hard they sold out to it (rightfully so), the greens were pretty rough for the majority of the summer with the Bermuda trying to make it back.

Escondido's greens are the best I've played anywhere in the world. And that includes augusta national, cypress, pine valley, etc.

They are champion Bermuda. Rest of course is zoysia.

Cimarron hills also has champions Bermuda. It doesn't play or look anything like escondido. Cimarrons greens are ok and getting better. But no where near escondido. This is just 2 data points on the same turf at 2 courses. They can be different due to care and feeding. Escondido "sands" their greens every Monday to "polish" them. Makes a huge difference

the greens at San Antonio CC were the best I have ever putted on. This was in July 2017.

I do like bent, but they get spiked up easier and the un repaired ball marks take longer to heal.

My favorite greens to play on are firm fast bermuda with just enough touch of sand/dirt on them to give that slightly baked crust. Difficult but fun.

San Angelo CC has bent greens and others around Texas keep bent grass greens. Smooth and firm, but yes they are a handful to keep in good shape in our climate of Texas. Those courses that are already playing bent grass would have one heck of a bill to pay for converting I would imagine.

Played an early morning round at Champions in Houston last year, and don't remember ever putting on a nicer surface. Believe they were TifEagle.

CapCityAg89 said:

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Champions Bermuda is the best putting surface anywhere. Fast, true, heat tolerant. Not thirsty.

Bent is fantastic but so damn expensive to maintain.

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OP is a billionaire. Should be okay.

My home course has bent greens and yesterday was the first round of the fall when they had em really rolling. They're going to be exquisite for the next couple of months and I like that there's little to no risk of losing them in a big freeze. That said, they're definitely marked up and soaked with water for 4-5 months of the year.

Whispering Pines and Bluejack have the best grass I have ever played in Texas and they're both Zeon Zoysia tee to green with Tifeagle Bermuda greens.

Grew up playing Brownwood as well. Most had enough shade around them, pretty small and not a lot of rounds, so they were able to maintain them.

Spanish Oaks are the best I've played in Texas, but have not had the opportunity to play Escondido