Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-09-04
OW many members of the Co
lumbia Country Club know that
9 majority Of their uniformly

7 OW many members Of the Co
- lumbia Country Club know that
Q majority Of their uniformly
4 4 nne putting green's are COM
posed Of other than bent grass,
ana that the grass over which the ball
rolls truly to the cup (maybe?) Is not$s-
ing more or less on 10 Of the 10 green's
grass Wn.cn TO most layn1en 10 nothing
more than a Winter weed, to be ruth
lessly destroyed because IL is apt to kill
out the more desired bcntS7
If they knew 1t, would they change
their putting back to bent grass, with
It's lack of ability to stand cold weather.
How many Of them would claim that
the ball rolls truer on the fourteenth,
which is q solid bent grass green, than
on the thirteenth or the fifteenth, which
are almost completely Poa Annua7
o. p. Fits, the tall scientist whom
Columbia obtained more than year
ago from the laboratories of the De-
partment of Agriculture and who has
worked literal miracles In providing the
golfing membership of the club with a
course Of finer condition this year than
at any time in decade, has found a
way to keep Poa Annua reseeding it
self throughout the Summer.
Having found the solution Of this
problem, he has at the same time kept
Columbia's 'old" putting green's on q
par land sometimes better) with the
newer greens of the course.
Mo man can supply q lack Of natures
sprinkler, and the present fast condition
Of Columbia'S fairways cannot be laid
to sins Of commission or omission on
the part Of the golf course supervisor.
That condition is not peculiar to Collrn-
bia, for the fairways at all the clubs
about washington all are in the same
parched condition, and only a rain OF
several hours duration will help them.
Has Done Fine Job.
With green's and tees-but particu..
larry .greers-F1tts Is concerned. ano
here he has done f1ne Job, particu-
larly in the field Of perpetuating the
Poa Annua and keeping 1t In good con.
dition throughout the hot months OF
Summer.
Who would believe, II he were not
an expert on grasses, that the SKIN,
seventh, eight, ninth, tenth, eleventh,
twelfth, thirteenth, fifteenth ana
seventeenth greens at Columbia are al
most completely made Of this once de-
spised field grass. which used to be
classed as nothing more than Wee1;
to be destroyed at all costs lest 1t klll
the case.
To be sure patches of these green's are
covered with bent, but in the main the
putting surfaces Of these 10 greens are
Poa Annua, and nothing else. The
newer greens, such the first, second.
third. fourth and fifth, fourteenth, six
tenth and eighteenth are all bent.
mostly of the Washington strain OF
creeping bent.
Who of Columbia's discriminating
membership would say that they are
better putting surfaces than those made
of Poa Annua.
In our Judgment land We have been
playing Columbia for decade and a
half the Poa Annua makes a finer
putting surface than bent, particularly
If the bent is less than two years old.
1t takes about two years for bent
green to thin itself out and be worked
down to smoothness. A finer green on
which to putt than Columbia's seventh.
eighth, twelfth or thirteenth cannot