What Is Zoysia Grass And Why Do The Commentary Team Keep Talking About It At The PGA Championship?

If you have tuned into the 2024 PGA Championship, you may have heard commentators going on about the Zoysia grass that the players are plying their trade on during the second men's Major of the year.

As the golf enthusiasts know, there are multiple types of grasses when it comes to golf. In the UK, you will likely see Bent grass, whilst the US tends to use Bermuda, Poa Annua, Rye and Zoysia. All play very differently and make a huge difference in the maintenance of the golf course.

In this piece, our focus is on Zoysia, which can resist a lot of heat and is usually found on tee boxes, fairways and rough. What's more, because of its slower growth and stiff construction, it can handle severe weather and traffic from golfers much better,

Speaking at the 2024 PGA Championship, Kerry Haigh, the Chief Championships Officer of the PGA of America, revealed that Valhalla had changed their grass from Bent grass Poa to Zoysia, with the broadcast teams mentioning how much spin players were getting from the grass.

The reason for the amount of spin? Well, as mentioned, Zoysia is a thick-bladed grass that stands straight up no matter how bad the weather or foot traffic. Because of this, the ball will tend to sit right on top of the grass, like a new driving range mat, meaning players will be able to make clean contact with the clubface when striking the ball.

Zoysia can, therefore, survive tougher conditions, and doesn't need as much maintenance, such as watering, due to its thicker nature, with its ability to survive in the higher heats one of the main reasons why courses may opt for it.

The only slight downside to it, aside from cost, is that it is slow to establish and may take several months to grow. This was proven by Haigh, who revealed that Valhalla's members were persuaded by its ownership group to "basically not play the golf course from November (2023), and we are now into May (2024)". Essentially, the course was starved of seven months playing time to allow it to grow. 

How’s Zoysia different to other grasses?

Although there are different types of Zoysia grass, they all differ from the likes of Bent grass and Poa due to the construction. Zoysia is found, primarily, in hotter, humid climates like Southeast Asia, China and Japan, as well as the Southern states of the USA, including California.

What other famous courses have Zoysia?

• Valhalla Golf Club
• Sentosa Golf Club
• Bellerive Country Club
• Grove XXIII
• Brambles Golf Club (California)
• The Singapore Island Country Club
• Crooked Creek Club (Atlanta)
• Bluejack National