The History of Bermuda Grass

Early Uses

• In the 17th and 18th century, Bermuda grass was used for forage or as a default lawn grass, but seed was primarily sold as a grass for foraging animals. In the southern United States in the early 1900s, Bermuda grass was used for the first time on a golf course to replace the current all-sand courses of the time.

U-3 and Tifflawn

• In the 1940s, a sample of Bermuda grass used on a golf course in Savannah, Georgia was taken and re-released as a new type of Bermuda grass plant called U-3. Shortly after, in the mid-1940s, the United States Department of Agriculture's Dr. Glenn Burton of Tifton, Georgia began collecting local golf course specimens and testing them for winter-survival, turf performance and seasonal re-growth. This first variety of Bermuda grass, which had been collected from the best golf courses in the area, came to be known as Tifflawn Bermuda grass (named after Tifton, Georgia) and was released in 1952 to the public.

African Bermuda Grass

• After the success of Tifflawn Bermuda grass as a low-growing turf plant, Dr. Glenn Burton discovered many other varieties such as a cross-pollination of Bermuda grass with African Bermuda grass that would not re-pollinate if propagated. This new type of hybrid technology produced hundreds of "mule," or non-propagating, varieties of turf grass, which soon became commercially valuable.

Tifgreen

• Released in 1956 and considered to be the first Bermuda grass improvement for closely-mown turf grass, Tifgreen was one of Dr. Glenn Burton's hybrids at the Tifton Experiment Station in Tifton, Georgia. Still in use on golf courses today, Tifgreen is sold as "Tifgreen 328 Bermuda," and is often used on many Arizona golf courses. Requiring a mowing height of a half-inch or less, this type of Bermuda grass is often used on golf courses with a 5/32nd of an inch grass height.

Tifway 419, Tifway II and Tifdwarf

• Like Tifgreen, Tifway 419 was discovered as a mule hybrid and is also popular as an Arizona golf course turf grass. Discovered in 1960, Tifway 419's distinguishing feature was its finer leaves and plentiful surface shoots, but it grew to greater heights than Tifgreen if not mowed. In 1965 and 1981, Tifdwarf and Tifway II were respectively discovered, leading to new market of mule Bermuda grass varieties with various heights, color and seed propagation characteristics.