Doing a fantastic job at retaining the natural links characteristics, Perranporth Golf Club Course Manager Rob Cook has been delighted with his switch to Johnsons J Fescue mix. 

Having used Johnsons Sports Seed at his previous club, Rob swapped with confidence two years ago, sowing the greens with a combination of Chewings and Slender fescues, with another 100% fescue blend, J Premier Fairway, employed across the fairways.

Picking up where the previous Course Manager had left off, maintaining the fescue species and low inputs was something Rob was keen to continue with when he took over three and a half years ago. “Once I used the stock of seed we had, I got in touch with my local Johnsons rep Ian Barnett who went through the mixtures available. J Fescue was the obvious choice for the greens, and for the fairways I was after a mixture of all the fescues – Hard, Sheeps, Strong, Chewings and Slender Creeping Red Fescue. J Premier Fairway ticked all of the boxes, straight off the shelf. The results have been absolutely fantastic!”  

Rob usually overseeds the greens between one and three times a year, the last time was September 2020 – the germination from which is still visible. “J Fescue delivers high shoot density and strong colour which lasts. Ordinarily, I would be planning to overseed again in April but with the greens in such good condition and the upcoming return of golfers we believe we’ll be able to wait until our next maintenance week in September.”  

“On the fairways we have a ‘members volunteer divot party’ who divot all 18 fairways with the J Premier Fairway mix over a two–week period – and through lockdown it’s been even more frequent.” The combination of more frequent seeding and the higher quality cultivars included in J Premier Fairway has meant that the artificial fairway mats that members were required to use over the winter period are a thing of the past! “We’ve made fantastic strides forward in terms of year-round plant health and strength.” 

“With divot work ongoing and a bumper season of play expected, I’ve got no doubts at all that the surfaces will be fit and ready to cope with the sustained levels of play” Rob concludes.