I read someplace that if you hit a golf ball in the fairway – that lovely stretch of grass directly in front of the tee box – you’ll likely get a lower score than if you consistently hit it into lakes, shrubbery, creeks, blackberry thickets or waist high grass. So, the fairway is a nice place to be. It’s even nicer if it’s a fairway sewn in zoysia grass. That’s almost better than teeing it up because zoysia fairways are bouncy, thick places where you never get a bad lie. It’s like hitting off a carpet.
Two courses in Central Virginia have zoysia fairways – Old Trail in Crozet and the Tuckahoe course at Stoney Creek. When you can keep it in the fairway on either course, you’ll likely end up with a great score.
Zoysia is a creeping variety of grass that originated in Asia. It’s also found in Australia. The beauty of zoysia – other than perfect lies on a golf course – is that it can tolerate wide variations in temperature, sunlight and it can mange to survive with far less water than other varieties. The downside of zoysia is that the seed is expensive, sometimes prohibitively so for golf course superintendents on a tight budget, But zoysia repels weeds and undesirable grasses far better than bent grass or Bermuda.
Years ago, my next-door neighbor sewed her entire yard with zoysia, using scattered plugs every 6 or 8 feet. It took less than two years before the zoysia took completely over. One day she trimmed back some overgrowth along the curbside and was going to discard the larger pieces of sod. Since I had just lost a dogwood tree and had an empty patch, I asked if I could have the throwaway zoysia.
Of course, she said. I planted the zoysia in that one patch and today, zoysia covers over half of my front yard.
Zoysia is environmentally friendly and a great variety of grass for both homeowners and golf courses. I wish more golf courses had zoysia fairways and I wish I could keep my golf balls in these fairways when I play those courses.