Playing firm and fast in France

The exclusive Golf de Cannes Mougins in southern France is the first golf course along the Riviera to renovate its fairways from cool-season grass to Tahoma 31 bermuda.

The course, one of the most prestigious in France, has been renovated several times since it first opened in 1923. A green-by-green renovation, which began in 2015, continues at one hole per year to disrupt play as little as possible.

In summer 2024, the club closed the course for two months to renovate all 18 fairways, going from cool-season grass to a dense and drought-resistant warm-season bermuda. The project was spearheaded by Alejandro Reyes, director of agronomy for consultancy firm Turfgrass Agronomy & Services.

Prior to the renovation, Reyes tested Tahoma 31 against other varieties on-site at Cannes Mougins, then expanded to a full fairway. Once Tahoma 31 proved itself as the best performer, the membership approved an 18-hole fairway regrassing.

Grow-in was facilitated by golf course superintendent Thibaut Perez and the grass was grown by Marco Bindi and his team at Bindi Prato Pronto Nord at a farm near Rome, Italy.

Perez and Reyes agree that selecting a turf with a dense canopy was imperative to address two issues – herbicide restrictions and playability. “We have very little herbicides to use in France, and our intention is to reduce the use of them as much as possible, while keeping playability high,” says Reyes. “Not having access to herbicides to eradicate grassy weeds such as poa annua is very difficult.”

“We like the density because goosegrass, paspalum and crabgrass are problematic, and we currently have no effective way to control them,” says Perez. “We needed something to conquer and push these weeds out of play naturally, while controlling them mechanically.”

In addition, Tahoma 31 fairways are maintained at nine millimetres (the cool-season grass was maintained at 14). “Tahoma 31 allowed us to cut the fairways much shorter during the season,” says Reyes. “Comparatively, the cool-season grasses that were on the fairways suffered in the heat of summer, and we don’t have enough water to irrigate, so it was very challenging.

“It makes the fairways faster and firmer because we have less material, and the ball is going to roll longer so it could make the course a little bit shorter… but that’s something the members say they are very happy about. Also, we shouldn’t forget that we don’t need to irrigate as much as the cool-season grass. So again, it’s drier, it’s firmer during the season and it’s improving the playability of the golf course.”

Perez adds: “Almost every year in France, we have water restrictions during the summer period. Sometimes, at the end of August and September, we only have the authorisation to water the greens.”

Planting a grass like Tahoma 31 that can survive with little to no irrigation in the heat of summer and hold on until water is again available for irrigation was critical to the success of the project. Reyes added that the club is considering changing over to reclaimed water as its irrigation source. As bermudagrasses, in general, can handle some amount of salt and poor water quality, the selection makes even more sense.

Along with herbicides, fungicide use is severely restricted in France. “None of our customers in France spray fairways for several reasons: the cost, the need to close the golf course and the need to reduce the use of phytosanitary products,” says Reyes. “Compared with Tifway 419, the amount of spring dead spot that we are going to get on the Tahoma 31 is like 10 times less. Actually, we didn’t see any spring dead spot on our first fairway that we tested. Compared to the old cool-season fairways we are not suffering anymore from dollar spot or anthracnose.”

Perez and his crew overseeded fairways to keep the grass green through the winter months. But, as the region has so few herbicide options, transitioning out of overseed had to be done mechanically, not chemically. This was just one more reason Tahoma 31 was the right choice for Cannes Mougins. Research shows that the grass is the last to go into fall dormancy and the first to green up in spring. Perez confirmed that by mid-March, the new grass was already breaking dormancy and starting to push out the overseed.

Bindi and his crew installed Tahoma 31 sprigs on fairways in early July 2024 and 60 days later, in September, the course reopened for play. Reyes says the facility went from mud to a fully playable golf course in four weeks, which is practically unheard of. Reyes and Perez say the members were astounded. “I mean nobody believed that in 60 days it was perfectly playable,” says Reyes. “And it was better than when we closed the fairways.”

This article first appeared in the April 2025 issue of Golf Course Architecture. For a printed subscription or free digital edition, please visit our subscriptions page. 

Stacie Zinn RobertsStacie Zinn Roberts

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