2/21/2024 - By Mike Hess

Harrell’s has been a partner for success with Century Golf for several years, supplying the agronomic inputs needed to ensure optimal playing conditions. Director of Agronomy, Rich Hagen, and his team work tirelessly to maintain the magic for all guests of the courses, and a large part of that is maintaining turf color.

However, since the courses operate year-round, seeing over 60,000 rounds per year, the agronomy team must work to improve turf color without disrupting play.

Recently, we had the chance to speak with Rich Hagen about his formula for successfully maintaining 63 holes for golfers.

According to Rich, the Century Golf courses have tested and utilized various turf products over the years. These products include various turf color options for the cool months and when cart traffic is high.

“Our courses see upwards of 60,000 rounds per year,” said Rich. “With that amount of traffic almost every day, across 250 acres of turf, we’re limited in what we can apply to make the course look good and not require a long period for the product to work. 

PAR® SG – a Turf Pigment Solution

Rich has been at these 4 Century Courses for ten years and started working with Harrell’s products eight years ago. In 2022, he started applying PAR® SG to one course at a time to test it out and see how well it performed compared to the other turf color products they have used.

“A few days after applying PAR® we could already see a huge difference. The color was vibrant but not fake-looking. Some color products will make your turf look very fake and look like you painted it, but PAR® looked natural,” said Rich.

How Does Harrell’s SprayMAX® PAR® SG Work?

PAR® SG is a highly concentrated and stable pigment designed to improve the appearance of turf and provide visual spray pattern identification for the applicator. The proprietary blend in PAR® SG will aid in more uniform applications of full-tank mixes of turf chemicals, including foliar fertilizers, plant growth regulators (or PGRs), plant protectants, and herbicides.

PAR® SG can be applied as a standalone product to refresh turf color in the dormant season, or mixed with other liquid applications in the tank and applied during regular spraying periods. PAR® is a pigment that translocates through the plant, unlike a paint, which will be mowed off in the south as the turf continues to grow. So even if PAR® is the only product applied, the turf will still get a minor nutrient boost from the application, all while providing a color that looks natural and healthy.

PAR SG Turf Pigment for Century Golf

PAR® SG's ability to be tank mixed with other spray products increases overall efficiency and reduces labor over time. This is the approach that Rich and his team takes when applying PAR® SG.  They mix 16 oz of PAR SG /acre with two gallons of IronMn Mg /acre and spray the mix bi-weekly. They also apply 15 lbs of 40-0-0 /acre as a granular fertilizer supplement.

Hagen has been very impressed with how well PAR® SG holds up to the traffic that comes with 200 rounds per course, per day.

As you can see in the pictures below, there is an obvious visual difference between the fairway without a PAR® application (figure 1) and a fairway post-application (figure 2). When talking about their experience with PAR® for the last 2 years Rich said, “The results speak for themselves. We tried a lot of products in those first couple of years when I was here and this (PAR®) has been exceptional. The color is natural and green, and with our tees being the only consistent overseeding on the course, PAR® has made up for it over time.”

PAR SG as an Overseeing Alternative

Utilizing PAR® SG in place of high-volume overseeding allows you to not have to worry about ryegrass transition, on top of bypassing some of the common disadvantages of overseeding, including:

·         Skipping the germination “no-play” period after overseeding (typically 4 weeks)

·         Saving thousands of gallons of water per 1,000 sqft of grass

·         Seed drifting into dormant, unseeded areas, leading to patchy green grass

Of course, there are advantages and disadvantages of overseeding, but Rich and the team have found Harrell's SprayMAX® PAR® SG to be a fantastic substitute for their needs across courses.

Reach Out to Your Harrell’s Rep

If you have any questions about any of the products, programs, services, or custom formulations mentioned, your local Harrell's Representative is your best resource. Reach out today and be sure to check out Harrells.com for the latest research, products, and stories from across the industry.