This is the kind of green where zoysia beats bermudagrass

I’ve not been an advocate for zoysiagrass (korai) greens when bermudagrass greens are a viable option. The reason for this is ball roll. With the same maintenance, bermudagrass greens have a noticeably smoother and faster ball roll. Zoysia greens have a different kind of roll because of the stiff leaves.

I was playing golf at a country club in a small town in South Carolina in early April. The greens were bermudagrass with lots of Poa annua. That was the case on the first hole, on the second, and so on, until our group arrived at the seventh green, where I was surprised to see a patch of zoysiagrass on the green.

When we got to the eighth hole, I saw another patch of zoysiagrass, and I borrowed a camera to get a few photos. The zoysia was doing noticeably better than the bermudagrass, with 100% coverage where it was present, fewer Poa annua plants, and a more attractive putting surface.

This matches with advice I’ve given in Asia, which distills to this:

If you consistently struggle to produce good putting surfaces with bermudagrass, then zoysia may be a better option.