Yesterday, the last traces of snow melted on the golf green at Landvik (58°N). The first impression confirms that the Norwegian breeding line 'Kvkk 9001' of Agrostis stolonifera is much less susceptible to snow mould than a 50/50 blend of the American cultivars Cato and Providence.

Landvik is the main centre for turfgrass research for golf greens in Norway.  A first trial including Norwegian and foreign cultivars of creeping bentgrass was sown in September 2001.  Since no fungicides have been used, the blend of American creeping bentgrass cultivars has been increasingly attacked  by winter diseases during the experimental period.  Yesterday, the pink sclerotia of gray snow mould (Typhula incarnata) were observed in the trial at Landvik.

Unlike the American blend, the Norwegian breeding line 'Kvkk 9001' has shown no symptoms of winter diseases during the experimental period.  Some Scandinavian greenkeepers already know this cultivar under the name 'Norgreen', but this may not be the official name when the cultivar is finally released. The first commercial seed yields of 'Kvkk 9001' will be harvested at Gvarv, Telemark in 2004, so we expect seed to be available for Norwegian greenkeepers in spring 2005.

Besides creeping bentgrass, the trial at Landvik also includes plots with a foreign and a Norwegian seed mixture of red fescue/ browntop.  Like 'Kvkk 9001'  these cultivars seem to have survided the winter without any severe damage caused by fungi .