5 Reasons TO overseed or NOT TO overseed?

Top Five Reasons To Overseed

1. By far the biggest benefit to overseeding is appearance. The green ryegrass with sharply defined stripes provides a “wow factor” that can’t be reproduced with warm-season turf, even with colorants.
2. Overseeded ryegrass absorbs golf cart and maintenance traffic – helping to maintain turf cover during winter months.
3. Overseeded ryegrass recovers from play. When temperatures are conducive for ryegrass growth, fairways will see divot recovery with overseeded ryegrass that would not occur with dormant bermudagrass.
4. Ryegrass performs better than bermudagrass in shaded areas.
5. Low areas perform better and are drier with overseeded ryegrass compared to dormant bermudagrass.

Top Five Reasons Not To Overseed

1. The top reason for not overseeding is a tough call because there are many, but I’m going to go with increasing the consistency of playing conditions. Not overseeding means no multiweek disruption to golf in the fall and no bare ground and awkward transition in the early summer. A non-overseeded golf course provides more good playing days per year than an overseeded golf course.
2. Not overseeding saves money! Many courses are spending over $100,000 for seed alone, not to mention other inputs to germinate and mature the ryegrass.
3. Not overseeding saves water! Eliminating overseeding can save from 1.5 to 2 acre feet of water per acre per year depending on the course location.
4. With no ryegrass, labor for mowing and fertilizing can be redistributed to other tasks.
5. Not overseeding allows for more weed control options, especially for Poa annua control.

   Reference: https://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/course-care/green-section-record/60/20/top-five-reasons-to-overseed-or-not-overseed-fairways.html