The golf course at the University Place, Wash. property will be closed beginning October 1st until March 2019, to redo all of its greens. Chambers Bay officials hope the change will help it attract another major golf championship, after complaints about its “dirt and sandpaper” greens when it hosted the 2015 U.S. Open. Chambers Bay…

University of Minnesota Professor Brian Horgan hopes to use 14 years of turfgrass research to convert the Falcon Heights, Minn., property to fine fescue grass, which typically requires less water and fertilizer, with fewer pesticides and less frequent mowings. If the plan is approved, the property could serve as a national model for greener practices at aging golf courses.

Three grasses go under the common name of fine fescue: chewings fescue, creeping red fescue, and hard fescue. All three survive extreme cold and combine well with other cool-season grasses. None of the fine fescues tolerate wear and tear, but they have the unusual talent of being able to grow in dry shade. Hard fescue…