Turfgrasses from Pure Seed and Atlas Turf International Featured at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club, Host of the 2023 Ryder Cup

Marco Simone, originally designed by Jim Fazio, underwent a complete redesign by European Golf Design and lead architect Dave Sampson in preparation for the Ryder Cup. For the turfgrass, the challenge entailed selecting the varieties best suited for the climate, possessing the ability to execute the designer’s vision, and most capable of delivering playability up to par with the legendary golf challenge.

As a premium putting green grass, Pure Distinction is known for its smooth and true playing surface with dense, upright growth. Pure Distinction is heat and cold resistant, beneficial for the widely varying temperatures of Rome. The turfgrass has good disease resistance, excellent wear tolerance and offers quick recovery from injury.

“The greens have been great,” said Sampson, who witnessed the turfgrasses under competitive conditions during the three previous Italian Opens hosted at Marco Simone since the completion of the redesign. “Every player has loved the greens and the roll that they have.”

Pure Dynasty® is an advanced seeded paspalum blend with versatility allowing for the varying heights of cut of the tees, fairways, collars, and surrounds at Marco Simone. It delivers an exceptional turf surface with tighter density, heat and cold tolerance, improved disease resistance, and the sustainability advantages of drought tolerance and superior salt tolerance.

“We are very happy with the playability [of Pure Dynasty] and the way the ball sits up on the grass,” said Sampson. “Also the appearance aesthetically and how it pops against the cool season grasses.”

Rounding out the turfgrass selection at Marco Simone is PureLinks fescue in the roughs. The specially designed blend of the highest-performing tall and fine fescue varieties delivers the desired characteristics of playability, colour, disease and drought resistance, salt tolerance, and quick establishment.

“In terms of the rough, we always wanted the particular style and look of fescue,” said Sampson. “For playability, the rough is going to be deep, and it’s going to get juicy. And that is what they want. If you hit in the fairway, you’re rewarded.”

Sustainability factored into the entire redesign and specifically regarding the turfgrass.

“We’ve realized a 30 percent water savings by choosing the grasses we have and by getting a state-of-the-art irrigation system,” said Sampson.

The majority of the PureLinks fescue varieties selected are qualified by the Turfgrass Water Conservation Alliance for demonstrating a statistically significant water saving potential across rigorous multi-year drought trials.

All of the turfgrasses featured at Marco Simone, with the exception of two components in the fescue blend, are products of Pure-Seed Testing, Inc. Developing innovative varieties since the 1970s, Pure-Seed Testing is the largest privately held grass seed researcher in the world with over 200 acres, ongoing research in over 20 countries, and over 1,000 experimental cultivars across 20 species in development. Atlas Turf International partners with Pure Seed to bring the highest quality and most innovative turfgrass products to projects worldwide.