8/29/2012 - By Gregory Nicoll

The following is an excerpt. To read the full article, click here.

How do different paints and pigments affect the surface temperature of greens?

The practice of overseeding bermudagrass greens for the winter is growing less common with each passing season. There are three major reasons for this trend. First, a difficult economy has superintendents seeking ways to reduce maintenance costs without sacrificing playing quality. Eliminating the cost of seed and the winter-long mowing requirements of the overseeded greens saves significant dollars. Second, dormant bermudagrass greens offer outstanding putting quality providing some of the smoothest and fastest surfaces players will see all year. Third, the processes of establishment and transition are eliminated. Not only is this much easier on the bermudagrass greens, it puts an end to the loss of putting quality at two of the most enjoyable times of the year to play golf - spring and fall. The one real drawback to not overseed is the loss of winter color. To overcome this, superintendents across the country are experimenting with a variety of dyes and paints to maintain a green tint, even on fully dormant greens. As the practice has caught on, questions began to arise concerning whether or not tinting greens in this manner might result in a warming of the surface and possibly help bermudagrass begin growing earlier in the spring.To see how the different  dyes and paints impacted surface temperature, read the rest of this article.