New golf green trial at County Wicklow course is first for Ireland and promises to produce invaluable data for country's greenkeepers

Specialist grass seed breeder Barenbrug and STRI, the leading independent consultancy, have announced details of an innovative new trial taking place at Druids Glen Golf Resort in County Wicklow, Ireland.

Sown in September last year, the Druids Glen Golf Green Differential Input Trial is the first of its kind in Ireland and aims to determine the influence of both standard and relaxed input maintenance regimes on grass species for golf greens.

By assessing the performance of different species under Ireland's increasingly adverse weather conditions, this important trial will be the first to yield data specific to the region's climate and conditions and promises to be of great benefit for the future of the Irish greenkeeping industry.

Course superintendant John O'Sullivan is working closely with the STRI's manager for Ireland, Dr Ian McClements, together with Barenbrug's research and development manager, Jayne Leyland, and area manager for Ireland, Neil Pettican, to monitor the performance of the seven species and mixtures under the two maintenance regimes.

Crucially, the species and mixtures will also be assessed on their Playing Quality (PQ) as part of The STRI Programme, an innovative new agronomic service designed to analyse the key playing performance qualities of green speed, surface smoothness and firmness of golf greens.

All parties report that the trials are progressing well and look forward to sharing the preliminary results with the industry later this summer. STRI and Barenbrug are also planning a series of open-days at Druids Glen later in 2010, so that Ireland's greenkeepers can get a firsthand insight into how the trials are performing.