Our new home was sodded in front and seeded in the back (Dec 2016). Almost none of the seed in the back took, so I re-seeded with Falcon IV, which I purchased at a local Ace Hardware. The Falcon IV is a MUCH darker green, fuller, and despite multiple fungicide treatments, brown patch is running rampant in the front, but not so much in the back. As already mentioned, I would read through the NTEP report and decide what characteristics are important to you (color, brown patch resistance, summer density, overall quality, etc.), and select a handful that meet your criteria, giving more weight to the scores for your area - one of the test areas is in Urbana. Then, Google around to see if the ones you've picked are possible for you to get/fit the budget. I'm no expert at all, but this is what I'm doing based on the research I've done.
That said, a lot of those listed in the report will be either hard to find or cost prohibitive to get/ship, so if you can't get exactly what you want, a good option I've found is to look for a local commercial turf supply company - they will likely sell a blend that they have determined will work well in your specific area, and have an in depth knowledge of the companies producing the different varieties. Hogan is a short drive from me, so I'll probably buy from him. I have also found that pricing and availability on some of these will not be available until after harvest in late July, just fyi.
That said, a lot of those listed in the report will be either hard to find or cost prohibitive to get/ship, so if you can't get exactly what you want, a good option I've found is to look for a local commercial turf supply company - they will likely sell a blend that they have determined will work well in your specific area, and have an in depth knowledge of the companies producing the different varieties. Hogan is a short drive from me, so I'll probably buy from him. I have also found that pricing and availability on some of these will not be available until after harvest in late July, just fyi.
