July Update-Around the Grounds

It is amazing to see how busy the golf course and the Club has been the past few months. Over the Fathers Day weekend (Fri-Sun) there were close to 700 rounds of golf played for an average of 230 rounds per day. A pre-pandemic "busy" weekend would be 170-180 rounds on a random Saturday or Sunday. Even on weekdays now, the course can see upwards of 200 rounds in a day. A positive note for the game of golf is that rounds are up around the country, which has brought many new players to the game. We are pleased that everyone is enjoying the course! With that said the course and turf conditions are heading into the stress period okay considering the amount of traffic. The Grounds Team has done a phenomenal job adjusting and readjusting to many different challenges.

The dry weather has allowed us to control the water which helps with both playability and plant health. You have probably noticed our team utilizing hoses to water small sections of the putting greens; certain areas on the greens will dry out faster then other areas. Utilizing a hose during the hottest periods of the day allows us to be more detailed with water; to create a more uniform surface. When members of our team remove the flagstick please do not hit the ball into the green until they have safely placed the flag back in. They will take less than five minutes to apply water to wilting turf.

Other adjustments to the high levels of traffic on the course include:

●      Increasing growth rates of the turf on the putitng greens to allow for recuperating from foot traffic 

●      Increased nitrogen in the rough areas from a high volume of traffic

●      Venting aeration of the greens to allow for more oxygen in the root zone (See Below)

Monday Golf: 

In order to allow the turf to recuperate from traffic and prepare for the summer months, beginning July 6th the course will be open to members on Mondays at noon for walking only.  The Proshop and the practice area will be closed, however a bag room staff member will be available to assist with your clubs. As usual, please check-in with the bag room staff and play will commence off of the first tee only. If there is a change in course status due to weather or another circumstance an email will be sent before noon on Monday.

Zoysia grass:

The new zoysia sod on 3 is doing extremely well, weed control and lowering the mowing height gradually is still our focus as the turf matures. Fairway areas injured in the winter from water sitting in low lying areas are being sodded and plugged. We are replacing turf in these areas from the Zoysia on 12th fairway because their respective heights of turf align much better then our nursery turf. The turf on 12 will be replaced when we are finished with the processes. 

 Regrading and sod repair on the 6th fairway

*Fairway Aerfication Reminder*

The golf course will be closed to all play on June 29th while the Zoysia fairways and practice area is aerified. (Pending Weather Conditions) We expect a two week time period for the turf to heal. 

 Aeration on the practice area

 Post aeration-2 days after

A couple questions have come up about the dead turf near the pavilion area. In the winter months we utilize a pre-emergent herbicide to provide year-long weed control between the pavers. This herbicide worked well between the pavers! Unfortunately, this year shortly after we made the application the herbicide was washed with an untimely rain into the rough areas adjacent to the 18th green.  We tried to seed into these areas with no success, we will now remove 2” of soil where the herbicide is concentrated and regrass. Stay tuned. 

Thanks again for the compliments and feedback. Please let us know how we can help?

Thank-you,

Pat O’Brien

Grounds Superintendent 

Whats Next? Agronomic Report

Dear Member:

After many challenges and a couple ups and downs over the last few months, we are quickly heading into summer with plenty on the to-do list however, we are making some progress. It has been a very long time since it has been this saturated for such a long period at HP; even walking on the fairways was a challenge!

Oops!

Last week, the Grounds team was able to take advantage of the drier weather and carefully create somewhat of a resemblance of fairways with the mowing equipment. After several mowings, the turf looked okay,  considering the Zoysia was not permissible to be mowed for about 2 weeks. 

The grass clippings left behind reminded me of the days working on the farm and bailing hay! The equipment and staff preformed fantastically to eventually reach this end result. (below)

Moving forward, some damage was sustained from the extended wet period. Low lying areas have seen turf loss, along with select areas of fairways where imprints have been left from both carts and mowing equipment. Summer aerfication of the fairways will be a necessity to smooth the surface, reduce compaction and eliminate scalping of the turf as noted in the picture below from the 18th fairway.

Other areas will need to be sodded and drainage added to help remedy this in the future. 

The rough has seen a tremendous amount of stress from the increased rainfall. The rough is composed of over 50 percent Annual Bluegrass. Also known as Poa, this grass type is undesired in this area because of its susceptibility to plant pathogens and poor heat tolerance. The summer is just beginning and we can already see areas that are looking tired. A long-term strategy to enhance the rough is to increase the populations of Turf Type Tall Fescue (TTTF) through multiple seasons of Innerseeding. TTTF  will allow for reduced inputs and increase playability in the rough areas.

Other Initiatives Include:

-Small drainage projects across the golf course

-Cart path repairs will continue with contractor availability (two weeks); most work is confined to the back nine

-Weed Control in the rough; Canada Thistle plants are the main target. 

Thanks to the entire Grounds Team for their continued persistence along with your patience over the past couple months! Please pass along any feedback or questions to grounds@hydeparkcc.com?

Thank-you,

Pat O'Brien
Grounds Superintendent