What Is Fescue on a Golf Course?
Fescue: A cool-season grass family — fine fescue creates the iconic golden links-style rough, tall fescue is used on fairways.
Fescue — full definition
A family of cool-season grasses used on golf courses in two distinct ways. Fine fescue (sheep fescue, hard fescue, chewings fescue) is the tall, wispy grass found in natural rough and out-of-play areas on links-style courses — it gives courses like Shinnecock Hills and Erin Hills their iconic golden-brown native look. Tall fescue is a coarser variety used for fairways and rough on courses in the transition zone where it handles heat better than ryegrass. Fine fescue rough is notoriously difficult to play from, as the long blades wrap around the clubhead and kill distance. Found across the Northeast, upper Midwest, Pacific Northwest, and on links-style courses nationwide.
Fescue — frequently asked
What is fine fescue rough like to play from?
- Tall, wispy grass in natural rough and out-of-play areas
- Gives courses like Shinnecock Hills and Erin Hills their golden-brown look
- Notoriously difficult to play from — long blades wrap around the clubhead
- Varieties: sheep fescue, hard fescue, chewings fescue
How is tall fescue different from fine fescue?
- Coarser variety used on fairways and rough in the transition zone
- Handles heat better than ryegrass
Fescue — where is it found?
- Northeast, upper Midwest, Pacific Northwest
- Links-style courses nationwide
More on Fescue
Fescue is the grass photographers love and golfers fear, and it is the visual signature of links-style design.
- LinksThe style fine fescue is inseparable from.
- Golf courses in New YorkShinnecock country — the fescue postcard.
- Golf courses in WisconsinErin Hills and the inland links experiment.
Other grass types
Bermuda Grass
The dominant warm-season turf across the southern United States — dense, grainy, and affects ball roll.
Bentgrass
The preferred putting green grass in the northern U.S. — ultra-smooth, fast, and true-rolling.
Poa Annua
Annual bluegrass — considered a weed on most courses, but the intentional putting surface at Pebble Beach and top West Coast tracks.
Zoysia
A warm-season grass popular in the transition zone — handles both heat and cold better than alternatives.
Ryegrass
A cool-season grass used as permanent turf in the north and as winter overseed in the south.
Paspalum
A salt-tolerant warm-season grass for coastal and island courses — can survive ocean spray and brackish water.
Kentucky Bluegrass
The backbone of northern fairway turf — dense, self-healing, and provides clean lies.
Overseeding
Spreading cool-season grass seed over dormant bermuda in fall to keep courses green through winter.