At Bluejack National in Montgomery, Texas—Tiger Woods’ first golf course design to open in the United States—the championship greens were built with a 90/10 sand to Profile Porous Ceramic (PPC) Greens Grade soil amendment mix to achieve healthy, quick-draining USGA-spec performance. Director of Agronomy Eric Bauer drew on prior grow-in experience to select PPC, then worked with Profile to lab-test and optimize the root zone mix. The resulting TifEagle Bermudagrass greens delivered accelerated grow-in, reduced fertilizer needs, stronger, deeper root mass and excellent playability, while supporting long-term turf health with a root zone that resists breakdown and helps manage water and nutrients efficiently.
Key Points
- 18 USGA-spec championship greens, practice greens and a putting course were built with a 90/10 sand to PPC Greens Grade soil amendment root zone mix at Bluejack National.
- Sand and PPC were lab-tested for infiltration, total porosity, non-capillary and capillary porosity, and uniformity coefficient to ensure the optimum performance characteristics.
- Accelerated grow-in, reduced fertilizer requirements and earlier mowing were achieved as PPC chemistry enabled more efficient nutrient use.
- Ultradwarf Bermudagrass greens showed dramatic improvement in root mass and are expected to perform well past normal life expectancy because Profile Porous Ceramic is proven not to break down.
