PATRIOT BERMUDAGRASS

    Patriot turf bermudagrass was developed and released by the Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station (OAES), Oklahoma State University.  It was tested as OKC 18-4.  Patriot is a clonally propagated F1 hybrid from a cross of Tifton 10.

    Patriot has been evaluated in several OAES experiments and in the 1997 National Turf Evaluation Program (NTEP) bermudagrass test.  Patriot combinies transition zone adaptation and turf quality features that should make it particularly useful.  It is more freeze tolerant than Midlawn.  It has consistently produced high quality turf by virtue of its relatively fine texture, good sod density, and dark green color.  Patriot has leaf and stem textures slightly more coarse than Tifway, but more refined than Midlawn.  Its sod density is better than that of Midlawn.  It is relatively aggressive in spread via rhizomes and stolons.  Accordingly, it can be established easily by sprigging and/or plugging, and it recovers rapidly from physical injury such as divoting.  Its turf quality generally equals or exceeds that of Tifway during the early and middle parts of the growing season, but often doesn't hold quality as well as Tifway near the end of the growing season, just prior to frost.

    No serious pest problems have been encountered with Patriot.  The severity of spring dead spot disease caused by Ophiosphaerella herpotricha on Patriot has been intermediate to Midland (very resistant) and Tifway, Tifton 10, and Tifgreen (susceptible).  Observations of evaluation plantings have not indicated problems associated with leaf spotting disease or other diseases.  Response to nematodes has not been measured.