Tif3D was selected from Taylor’s Creek Golf Course at Fort Stewart in Georgia, home of the U.S. Army’s 3rd Infantry Division and has been compared to Tifgreen, Tifdwarf, Champion, MiniVerde, and TifEagle on the University of Georgia Tifton Campus since 2012. It is generally darker green and more uniform than these cultivars during, or immediately following, many environmental (drought, foliar disease, and temperature fluctuations during the spring and fall) or mechanical (mower scalping, verticutting, and hollow-core aeration) stresses. Tif3D was highly adapted to the lower-intensity management conditions of the research trials in Tifton. Therefore, we further tested it at on-site golf course research putting green trials beginning in 2015, largely against TifEagle and Mach 1. Over years and locations, Tif3D consistently outperformed these cultivars with its dense surface, eventually leading to its release at the request of several golf course superintendents.
Breeder
Dr. Brian Schwartz
As a specialist in turfgrass breeding at the University of Georgia in Tifton, Brian Schwartz focuses on the development of new warm-season turfgrass species for home and golf course use with improved stress adaptation. His research objectives are to identify more drought-tolerant and plant-parasitic nematode-resistant Bermuda and centipede grasses.
Dr. Schwartz initiated a zoysia grass breeding program in Tifton in collaboration with the turfgrass industry and with other academic institutions. His goal is to develop both lawn- and golf-type zoysia grasses that are adapted to the humid Southeast as well as other parts of the United States and the world.
His professional affiliations include membership in the Crop Science Society of America, Georgia Golf Course Superintendents Association, Golf Course Superintendents Association of America, U.S. Golf Association, and the Turfgrass Breeder’s Association.
Dr. Schwartz earned his bachelor of science in Plant and Environmental Soil Sciences and his master of science in Plant Breeding at Texas A&M University. He studied Turfgrass Breeding at the University of Florida, where he received his Ph.D. in Agronomy.
Affiliations
- University of Georgia, Tifton Campus
- Department of Crop & Soil Sciences