Storm Damage at Hyde Park

Around 5:00 pm today a storm hit the Tristate leaving roughly 100,000 homes and businesses without power. The golf course and grounds at Hyde Park were not spared from the 50mph gusts that occurred. A large tree in the parking lot fell and struck the platform tennis courts. The removal of the tree will commence tomorrow. The golf course held up relatively well with roughly 6 trees that were lost mainly along wood and property lines. However, there is a tremendous debris across the golf course that will need to be clean-up on Saturday to make the golf course safe and playable. The tennis area has a series of windscreens that are damaged along with a tremendous debris down.

 

The Grounds staff is currently working on:

• Cleaning debris in the parking lots
• Trouble shooting the irrigation communication system to get back online
• Scheduling of contractors for large tree removal

With the large amount of debris spread across the entire property of Hyde Park the Golf course and tennis facility will be closed tonight and tomorrow morning. We are hoping to have the course ready for play in the afternoon. We will reevaluate an opening time at 11:00am once the debris is removed and the course is safe to play.

 

Information will be sent via email, through the Proshop and via twitter pobrienhpgcc.

Thank-you,

Pat O'Brien

Grounds Superintendent

 

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Golf Course Update-Summer is here...

Summer in Cincinnati is here! Temperatures have been well above normal levels and the grounds at Hyde Park have seen less then an 1.5 inch of rain for the month of June. In fact, since June 1st, the irrigation system has applied more then 3 million gallons of water to the golf course, tennis, and landscaped areas. The trend is leaning towards the the drier side of the continuum, with little relief from the extreme heat anytime soon.

In order to enhance the playability and health of the golf course, hand-watering or syringing of the greens, tees and approach areas is employed. Syringing occurs when a light mist of water is applied to the turf to reduce the surface temperature of turf canopy. The cool season grasses, specifically the Annual Bluegrass are compromised compared to Creeping Bentgrass in hot weather. This is a challenge when up to 60% of the putting surfaces are composed of Annual Bluegrass.

When our staff is syringing the putting surfaces and the flagstick is pulled out of the cup please do not hit the ball onto the green until the flag is placed back in the cup and the Grounds staff is off the green. This process takes less then 5 minutes to complete and will improve the health and playability of the putting surfaces.

Also, please continue to operate the golf carts in the Zoysia grass fairways to reduce traffic and stress placed upon the turf-type tall fescue roughs.

Thank-you,

Pat O'Brien

Grounds Superintendent

 

Bird Baths on the Course

Over the next few weeks the Grounds staff will continue to level low areas in the fairways that have traditionally held water and of recently have seen turf decline. As you can see from the photo many of these areas require lifting of the sod and placing soil to move the water away via surface drainage. Areas in the fairways that cannot be raised to allow positive surface drainage will be drained using subsurface pipe and catch basins.

 

Before-# 1 fairway

 

After-#1 Fairway

Completing these drainage improvements in the summer is ideal because the Zoysia is actively growing and will heal in rapidly. These areas will be played ground under repair.



Thank-you,

Pat O'Brien

Grounds Superintendent

Fairy Ring- An Olympic Year

The end of the spring is near and with the warm temperatures, dry soil followed by almost an inch of rain some interesting rings are starting to emerge on the greens. These darker circles are called Fairy Rings consisting of various types of fungi in the soil and thatch. These rings, in most cases can be a cosmetic problem but depending on the type of fungi that have colonized these areas, they can cause localized dry spots and or cause issues with root growth. Generally, Fairy Rings are noted on the greens at Hyde Park each year. In order to reduce the severity of the Fairy Rings, preventative fungicide applications were applied in March and have continued to this date. Venting, applications of wetting agents ( allow water to penetrate these hydrophobic areas) along with hand watering will aid in reducing the severity of these rings.

#5 Green Hyde Park

Thank-you

Pat O'Brien

Grounds Superintendent