I've been ranting this past year about the demise of "Plant Health" as a viable term in golf turf management. The fact is the longer I ruminate about the concept that we think we can make a plant healthy, the more ludicrous plant health seems. The existence of an organism on a golf putting surface is entirely related to stress tolerance.

It is hard to imagine a living organism that can thrive when part of their energy-factory is removed every day via mowing, then squished with a roller, goes long periods without water, and held in a constant state of starvation of the most desirable nutrient. Thrive-NO. Adapt-Yes. Healthy-NO. Tolerant-Yes.

Given this set of circumstances golf turf managers are asked to produce CONSISTENT playing conditions. No one cares if the plant is healthy, except the person trying to sell you a Plant Health Product. The demand for consistency in a world and climate where anything is BUT consistent is our Achilles heel.

Developing perennial surfaces requires a golf turf manager to understand ALL the stresses the plants are under-imposed by us, the weather or the play. Some stress I have outlined above are obvious, others so common we forget and assume our plants are healthy- because we get clippings in the bucket or are on a Plant Health Program.

So we have two issues. First, we must maintain a regular conversation with our golfers that says, We strive to provide you a fair and true test of golf. The ebb and flow of the season allows us to adapt the look of the golf course while keeping playing conditions within reasonable limits set by the greens committee.?

I know it is easy for me to say (AND IT IS) but sometimes you have to look people in the eye and say you can't have everything you want ALL the time. When you do that you better have a vision for the golf course.

Second, we need to know the stress our plants are under. We need to learn how and when to use stress, assuming we  KNOW why we are doing it. There has to be a plan. I'd suggest striving for a more perennial surface who cares if we have annual bluegrass, creeping bentgrass, red fescue, perennial ryegrass? I contend no one will care if we deliver on the playing quality.

Learning the value of stress as management tool is key to developing a more sustainable system. We dry the turf surface sometimes to encourage deeper rooting and we dry the turf heading into winter because we know slight drought stress enhances winter tolerance. We slowly mow lower and lower because we know low mowing stress increases turf density.

Instead of avoiding the obvious that putting surface management is stressful on plants, I say we embrace stress. We know the COST of a Plant Health Program, but we are still learning the value of stress.