Celebration Bermuda turfgrass vs 419 Cancel The title field is required!

1. Ranjit Nanda

   

   0 posts
   
   6/22/2012 5:06 AM

   Any practical comparison available between Celebration Bermuda Grass with Tifway 419 for fairways and tees.... any opinions on the quality in terms of density, visual appeal, winter colour? Which makes a better "high-end turf?. Would appreciate any inputs. Thank you.

   
   
   
   
2. Steven Huffstutler

   

   11 posts
   
   6/22/2012 6:06 AM

   I have 419 just about everywhere. I have put Celebration on a few shaded tees and it has worked very well. It looks like Common to me, it stays very green in the winter and is VERY aggressive. It requires more work as it tends to get puffy at higher heights. I prefer the look of good 419, it is a much finer bladed grass. The problem is getting good 419, but there is some out there. Celebration has become very popular around here, but if I was going to regrass, I would find a good 419 field and use that.
   
   Regards,
   
   Steve

   
   
   
   
3. Baker Daniel

   
   6/22/2012 10:06 AM

   Where are you located? I have seen some Celebration look good on a practice tee but would think twice before taking it on the golf course. As was stated above, its VERY aggressive and tends to get puffy. If you dont have the time or money to put into it with verticutting and topdressing it would not be a grass I would recommend. 419 has the finer leaf blade and good clean 419 makes an excelent surface. I've mowed it as low as .250 until late April in northern Houston with no problmes. Heights came up to .460 for the summer and it perfomred beautifully. I would find it certified with a replacement guarantee before I would purchase. Mutations make that great grass look terrible.

   
   
   
   
4. Andy Jorgensen

   

   1 posts
   
   6/23/2012 7:06 AM

   A lot of courses in Florida are switching from 419 or TifSport to Celebration. The reason is the vigorous growth not only allows it to recover good from traffic, it also will compete with and blend in with common Bermudagrass encroachment. It is more of a blue looking grass compared to a well fed 419 or TifSport, but will play excellently under the right conditions. Perfect for shady par-3 tees and on heavy use driving range tees. It does grow and get puffy though, and a farm I was talking with a while back said they strip their fields every other year or else it gets so thatchy they can't cut it. Gotta keep up with it.

   
   
   
   
5. Christopher Flynn

   

   0 posts
   
   6/23/2012 10:06 AM

   I will be looking at re-grassing some of my Range Tees in the near future (currently we have either 419 or TifSport). At our golf school, tees used only for private instruction do not receive heavy use and TifSport works quite well. The tees I need to level/re-grass are heavily used (a lot of chipping) and TifSport is certainly out of the question as it is just not aggressive enough.
   
   Is Celebration the [u">best[/u"> option out there?

   
   
   
   
6. Steven Huffstutler

   

   11 posts
   
   6/23/2012 2:06 PM

   Celebration may well be your best choice for those high use tees. I put it on a couple of small par 3 tees and it has worked out quite well.
   
   Regards,
   
   Steve

   
   
   
   
7. Cooper James S

   
   6/23/2012 5:06 PM

   At a recent seminar by Dr. Unrah, he showed some studies of how celebration out performed tifway in conditions with nematodes. Not sure if this is a problem for you but can't hurt. I have two shaded tees that are celebration. On one its extremely shaded and had thin areas. I put Tifgrand on that area, its doing great. Why not throw that in the mix.

   
   
   
   
8. Andy Jorgensen

   

   1 posts
   
   6/23/2012 6:06 PM

   James Cooper said: At a recent seminar by Dr. Unrah, he showed some studies of how celebration out performed tifway in conditions with nematodes. Not sure if this is a problem for you but can't hurt. I have two shaded tees that are celebration. On one its extremely shaded and had thin areas. I put Tifgrand on that area, its doing great. Why not throw that in the mix.

   
   
   
   I think he correlated the reduction of Nematode symptoms to the shear mass of roots present and the ability of the turf to outgrow damage. Dr. Crow has done a study that showed TifSport as the most resistant to Nematodes, but unfortunately, as stated here in the post, it can't tolerate the traffic. Ironic.

   
   
   
   
9. Tyson Helsel

   

   0 posts
   
   6/24/2012 6:06 PM

   We have just no tilled Celebration on 30A of fairways with the last one being planted this past Tuesday. The first 3 fairways are 12 days old and have 35-40% coverage.....simply amazing! Before the plant, I had the typical mutated/contaminated 419. I'm sure there is clean 419 out there, but I guess I'm yet to find it....although the clean 419 I've seen is very striking! I've had some areas sodded with Celebration that are VERY shaded and it performs awesome! Tees, fairways, apps..... you name it! As the others have mentioned though, a good vmowing/aerification program is a must moving forward.
   
   Best regards