Winter Injury of Zoysia 2014 and 2019

Unfortunately, winter injury on the Zoysia grass is becoming evident, the below post was sent to the membership in 2014 to outline the strategies to enhance recovery and mitigate future winter injury challenges on the fairways. Much time and resources were spent in 2014 to correct the problem only in the short-term. Unfortunately, shade and drainage issues in the same areas have not been addressed and will continue to allow the Zoysia to be vulnerable to winter injury in the future.

Blog post outlining damage to fairways in 2014:


As you look around the landscape of the neighborhoods near Hyde Park, Mother Nature after a long winter has left her mark with many damaged/ dead plants including turfgrasses. As discussed, back in February in an earlier update http://hydeparkgolfandcountryclub.blogspot.com/2014/02/update-cold-temperatures-and-zoysia.html the threat of winterkill was a concern and unfortunately is now a reality noted on some of the fairways particularly where water was sitting due to poor drainage, heavily shaded areas, high traffic areas and newly sodded areas.
The worst hit areas are located on right sides of the 9th and 18th fairways. Due to the extensive shade in these areas the plant is weakened, and was unable to stand-up to the extremes of Mother Nature. These areas will evaluated with further shade studies measuring intensity and duration of light for long-term solutions that will be discussed at future Grounds Committee meetings.

The shaded 18th fairway.

Position of the sun throughout the day on May 6th

A view of the 1st fairway and low area effected by standing water
Areas similar to the above picture will be aerified in the declined areas and we will patently wait for the warmer temperatures to come. When operating golf carts please try to stay away from these brown areas.
The recovery strategy of the Zoysia grass will include:

• Aerifcation of the fairways 
• Cart Path only holes 2,8,9,10 and 18
• Deep tine aerifcation of all the fairways 
• Selective tree removal
• Reducing traffic in injured areas 
• Added fertilizer treatments
• Sod (Sodding will be an expensive exercise  if shade issues are not addressed, immediate tree removal may reduce reliance on sod 
• Patience 

If there are any questions please contact me at: grounds@hydeparkcc.com
Thank-you,
Pat O'Brien
Grounds Superintendent

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