TifEagle

TifEagle was evaluated in over 25 golf course environments from North Carolina to Barbados and California from 18993 to 1997. The data collected from these sties show that TifEagle is capable of producing a premium quality putting surface meeting the highest golfing standards. TifEagle putting greens have been overseeded with Poa trivialis since 1994.

High quality, uniform overseeded putting survaces are routinely obtained with a minimum loss of play. The rhizominous growth habit, with appropriate topdressing and verticutting, provides an excellent seedbed for uniform overseed establishment. TifEagle’s tolerance to close mowing gives the golf course superintendent an excellent tool to manage and control Spring transition. TifEagle will produce higher quality putting surfaces than Tifdwarf, but also required more intensive management. Thus, TifEagle may not be the best variety for all golf green situations.

Research has shown that inadequate maintenance of Tifeagle will result in thatchy and inferior putting surfaces. Therefore, each superintendent considering TifEagle is encouraged to review management practices to determine if the Greens Committee and golf course budget will support the required management inputs.

Improved Speed, Consistency and Overal Playability

Tifdwarf, Tifgreen and even some of the new ultradwarf varieties become stressed when subjected to reduced mowing height, frequent verticutting, increased topdressing and minimal irrigation. TifEagle, on the other hand, was created to withstand just this kind of abuse. In test after test, TifEagle’s quality rated superior to Tifdwarf and other warm-season grasses. Putting speed tests are routinely in the 9 to 10 foot range and often exceed 10.5 to 11 feet during intense management for tournament play. Improve the speed, consistency and playability of your greens. Insist on TifEagle.

Superior Color Retention Under Cool Conditions

Once temperatures dip into the mid-to-low 40’s, Tifdwarf experiences chlorophyll loss and goes off-color quite rapidly. So do some of the ultradwarfs. Not TifEagle. It holds up to cool weather conditions extremely well. TifEagle will go off-color when temperatures get down in the low 30’s, but it has a much faster, more robust recovery than other grasses. Obviously, good color retention is aesthetically pleasing, but it’s also an indication that your grass is still generating good leaf production. This is quite important for superintendents who choose not to overseed. It’s equally important for late season play during fall transition.

Smooth Transitions During Overseeding and Spring Greenup

Turf quality tests have also demonstrated that TifEagle responds better to overseeding that Tifdwarf and other popular bermudagrasses. When you combine TifEagle’s rhizominous growth with an appropriate schedule of topdressing and light verticutting, TifEagle provides an excellent seedbed for poa trivalis/bentgrass blends. Its tolerance for low mowing coupled with its ability to grow at cooler temperatures makes TifEagle the right grass for managing difficult spring transitions. TifEagle also holds up well under drought conditions and has demonstrated an ability for rapid re-growth after mechanical injury, as well as strong resistance to disease and an inexplicable defense against mole crickets. Mole crickets just don’t like TifEagle as well as some other bermudagrasses. You don’t have to worry about seed heads, either. TifEagle produces very few, especially at low heights of cut.

Much Less Thatch Buildup than the Other Ultradwarfs

Thatch buildup is highly detrimental to greens. It produces grainy putting surfaces, inconsistent ball roll and can result in a sub-surface micro-climate which is conducive to disease and organic layering. Thatch also makes it more difficult to establish and maintain uniform stands of overseeded grass. TifEagle not only produces less thatch than the other ultradwarfs, it’s very forgiving when subjected to agressive management. In fact, TifEagle can tolerate 2 to 3 mowings per day at heights as low as 1/8-inch with no loss of stand density.

Quality-Conscious Licensed Growers Association

As a patented variety, TifEagle canonly be sold as certified sod or sprigs, and only by licensed members of the TifEagle Growers Association. This premier group of quality-conscious sod producers has agreed to the stringent production practices set up by the Georgia Seed Development Commission. You can be assured of TifEagle’s genetic purity. As a certified bermudagrass, it’s grown, inspected and sold under a rigorous set of rules and guidelines designed to insure on-going purity and uniformity. The propagation of TifEagle for any purpose by anyone other than a licensed grower is prohibited and illegal. Look for the TifEagle certification tag. It’s your guarantee that the TifEagle you buy today will be the same TifEagle you buy ten years down the road.

TifEagle exhibits all the traits golf superintendents need from a greens-quality hybrid bermudagrass. Released in 1998 by the Georgia Coastal Plain Experiment Station in Tifton, GA, some 20 years after it introduced TifDwarf, TifEagle’s leaf blades are extremely fine and erect. TifEagle maintains a density capable of repelling annual bluegrass, delivers excellent trueness for putting, and accepts overseeding well. It produces few seedheads and maintains its color throughout heat and longer into the fall.

Several morphological characteristics give TifEagle its unique advantages: