Annual bluegrass (Poa annua L.) makes up a large portion of the putting surfaces in many regions of the US and Canada. Over the past one hundred years, P. annua has evolved perennial strains that not only persist but eventually come to dominate many golf course greens in the northeastern and Pacific northwest US, along the US/Canadian border, and in eastern Canada. Yet despite its wide-spread occurrence, there currently are no commercially available sources of greens-typeP. annua for use in constructing, renovating, or maintaining P. annua golf greens.

Poa annuais an extremely diverse species of grass containing wild and weedy types that behave as annuals; short-lived stoloniferous turf-types found in lawns and fairways; and perennial, stoloniferous greens-types adapted to extremely close mowing heights. Greens-type P. annua actually has many characteristics that make it enviable as a putting surface. It typically has shoot densities that are 8 to 20 times higher than bentgrass, an upright growth habit that lacks grain, and aggressively inhabits golf greens maintained at extremely close (<1/8 inch) mowing heights.

The purpose of this research is not to replace bentgrass as a putting surface but rather to offer an alternative to those golf courses where P. annuas simply a better choice. One of the main problems with P. annua greens is that they are usually a patch-work of different strains. This patch-work results in a non-uniform putting surface due to differences among the strains in texture, seed head production, and vertical leaf extension rates after mowing. Differences in pest and environmental stress tolerance among the various strains also complicates the management of such a diverse population of plants. The main focus of this project is to produce a commercial source of uniform greens-type P. annua. This would allow superintendents and architects more of an opportunity to utilizeP. annua putting surfaces rather than simply living with comes in.

To date the project contains over 1,600 strains primarily from the northeast and mid-Atlantic States. The performance of these strains is currently being assessed on an experimental green. In addition, the project is also investigating the tolerance of greens-type P. annua to winter damage and heat, its management requirements, and its resistance to diseases and insects. Methods of production being investigated include vegetative propagation, traditional seed, and synthetic (artificial) seed.