Why do our greens have different colors in them if they are only one kind of grass? Specifically, the red or purple patches that we see on the greens right now.
Answer:
Although our greens are 100% of one type of bentgrass (A4 creeping bentgrass), this grass was breed from several different varieties. The turfgrass breeders (yes there are people who do that), look at existing grasses and try to single out the genes in them for specific characteristics. They may pull a gene from a grass that exhibits resistance to a specific fungus, or one the has good drought tolerance, or maybe one that survives well under extremely low mowing heights. The red and purple colors that you see are patches of grass starting to go dormant and are revealing more of one type of "parent" grass than another.
View of #1 green
Close up with my radio antenna showing a spot
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