One Year Ago/ Putting Green Aerification

The weather in March has not been conducive to playing golf or putting green aeration. The below normal temperatures have limited rounds of golf to about 175 in March 2013 compared to 950 in March 2012. The pictures below tell the entire story on how Mother Nature is in control.

March 30th,2012

March 30th, 2013

The ten day forecast at this point looks positive to have the ideal conditions to aerify the greens. Pointing to April 8-10th as the tentative dates to complete this important process. The golf course will be open during these days but temporary greens will be employed on the holes where aerification is occurring. Thank for your patience.

For more information on the course conditions along with many ongoings at the club please download the Hyde Park App.

Regards,

Pat O'Brien

Grounds Superintendent

 

Emerald Ash Borer Update

A few questions have have been asked of late about the status of the Emerald Ash Borer.

The Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) continues to be the most devastating insect to invade the North American landscape destroying millions of Ash trees and having an economic impact in the billions. This pest will continue to harm the North American landscape for many years.

The impact from (EAB) to the landscape at HP has been limited because there were not many planted over the years. Since 2004, 30 ash trees have been removed and I estimate less then 30 mainly in wooded areas will have to be removed.

Many private owners, municipalities and agency's have focused on removal, quarantines and limited treatments to save the trees. Because the early infestations of EAB were unrecognizable until damage occurred, insecticide treatments were unsuccessful because the trees were damaged severely.

For more information on the EAB please look at the following link:

http://www.agri.ohio.gov/eab/

Please call or email me if there are any questions

Thank-you

Pat O'Brien

Grounds Supeintendent

Staff Update

Mike Keller

After five years of dedicated service to Hyde Park Golf and Country Club, Mike Keller is moving on to help with The Highland Support Project in Guatemala (http://www.highlandsupportproject.org) aiding in improving drinking water infrastructure. Mike was a key employee with an excellent work ethic and dedication to make HP better. He began his tenure at HP as a Turfgrass Intern and was promoted eventually to Irrigation Technician and finally took on the role on as Assistant Grounds Superintendent. Good Luck!

Dan Lawendowski will be promoted to Assistant Superintendent to help out current Assistant, Greg Nickerson.

Regards,

Pat O'Brien

Grounds Superintendent

 

Course Conditions 3/9/13

 

 

The snow continues to melt across the golf course and grounds at Hyde Park unfortunately the soil conditions on all of the surfaces including the putting greens are saturated. Because the 90-year old soil greens are constructed of native soil and lack functioning drainage, the water takes a tremendous amount of time to move through the profile. The addition of frost in the ground, limits water movement even further.

Because the majority of the roots are located in the top 3 inches of the soil, golfer foot traffic will damage or even sever the roots off causing long-term damage into the season. Below, is a slide with a cross section of the profile of the greens showing the drainage rates as well as what is recommended. Also, please note that the darker areas in the slide is the native soil that limits infiltration significantly. There is good chance that other courses may be open in the area, but please remember that soil conditions and performance of the greens vary from course to course based on construction methods, age, grass type, drainage etc.

With the warmer temperatures and wind drying the surfaces out we will evaluate course conditions Sunday morning for a POSSIBLE opening time.

We appreciate your patience and we hope that the course will be playable very soon.

 

If there are any questions please email me grounds@hydeparkcc.com

 

Regards,

Pat O'Brien

 

Signs of Spring- Irrigation Start-Up

Over the next week the Grounds Staff will begin initial steps to pressurize the irrigation system for the upcoming season. The irrigation system is one of the key building blocks to maintain healthy and playable turfgrass. A few interesting facts about the irrigation system you may not have known.

• There are over 1600 sprinklers that irrigate roughly 110 acres of turf and landscaped areas
• The water source is the Ohio River distributed via Cincinnati Water Works (CWW)
• The system was installed in 2008 and took about 5 months to complete
• The system can deliver over 1400 gallons per minute- allowing to irrigate during ideal times to allow for healthier turf
• Most irrigation systems utilize pumping systems to maintain flow and pressure. Fortunately, HP does not have to utilize expensive pumps or added electricity because the water pressure from CWW is more then adequate at 160 psi.
• Each sprinkler has a control wire that is linked to a control box and is linked to a central computer
• There are over 20 miles of pipe ranging from 1" to 10"
• Over 100 miles of wire in the ground
• The irrigation system is operated via: tablet, cell phone, computer or manually at each sprinkler
• There are two sets of sprinklers along the edges of the fairways to maximize water effciencey and reduce cost. One sprinkler waters the cool season roughs and the other waters the Zoysia grass. Zoysia grasss requires less water then the cool season Fescue roughs
• All water usage is tracked on a monthly basis to evaluate new processes and technology to reduce water costs long term
• With all the technology, the most important tools to water efficiently and effectively is constant staff monitoring of moisture levels along with constant hand watering to preserve the 90-year green surfaces

A view inside of the backflow house along Erie Avenue

Photo of irrigation computer software- circles on map are sprinklers