The Story of Bermudagrass: Dr. Glenn Burton's Legacy from Pasture to Putting Green

Dr. Glenn Burton (1910–2005), Nebraska farm boy turned world-renowned agronomist, transformed Southern agriculture and golf. At UGA’s Tifton station, he developed:

• Coastal bermudagrass – doubled forage yields, covered 10M acres.
• Pearl millet hybrids – doubled India’s production (3.5M → 8M tons, 1965–1970).

Turf Revolution

1946: USGA Green Section funded Burton’s turf breeding. First hybrid (Tiflawn, 1952) was too coarse for greens but great for sports fields. Crossing with African bermudagrass (C. transvaalensis) yielded:

• Tiffine (Tifton 127) – sterile, 27 chromosomes, vegetative only.
• Tifgreen (Tifton 328) – fine, dense, ¼″ mowing, 1956.
• Tifway (Tifton 419) – darker, less nitrogen, traffic-tolerant, 1960.
• Tifdwarf – mutant from Tifgreen, 3/16″ mowing, 1965.

Mutation Breeding

1970s: Gamma-ray treatment of dormant sprigs created mutants. Tifway II (1981), TifSport (1997, sports), TifEagle (1997, golf) followed.

Burton’s grasses underpin Southern golf, sports, and lawns today—a legacy of science serving beauty and utility.