Hard to believe that we are rolling into late August, the Grounds team continues to work extremely hard every day to produce consistent conditions even with a few challenges from Mother Nature. A few interesting statistics; since July 18th the golf course has seen less than .4" of rain which has meant our team has been utilizing hoses to be more accurate when watering dry spots on greens and tees. The last week of August is proving to be one of the most challenging weeks of the season, the forecasted highs reach well into the mid-high 90s with high humidity and lows in 70s with very little relief in sight. The grass on the greens is extremely stressed, forcing us to protect the surfaces with less frequent mowing and utilizing a higher mowing height. We apologize in advance for the slower less consistent putting surfaces.
The irrigation system continues to get a workout with over 7 million gallons of water applied the last month to about 100 acres of turf, the team has done an excellent job adjusting precipitation rates and timing to enhance turf quality. Over 60 percent of the water applied to the golf course has been to the rough areas. The grasses in the rough are not drought tolerant and require more frequent irrigation cycles, as the fall approaches we will begin to integrate more turf type tall fescues into the roughs to increase sustainability.
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| Small tine aeration to help dry surface |
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| Zoysia grass off color from drought but playing well |
Bryan Miller and the Grounds team have begun the removal of the dying and dated plant material at the front entrance of the club. We have some final grading and irrigation changes to the area, once completed the new design will be implemented in mid-late September.
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| Front Entrance Design |
Other initiatives on the golf course include; the annual mowing of the high rough areas in anticipation of fall weed control measures for next year. Herbicide applications are most effective in the fall when the plants are smaller from recent mowings and the temperatures are cooler. Recently, we have seen recovery from the damage from the Annual Bluegrass Weevils on the 7tees.
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| New Seedlings on 7 Tees |
Unfortunately, another pest has made its's arrival to many mid-western golf courses this year, including HP; The Fall Army Worm in its larval (caterpillar) stage march across in the hundreds to devour nice green, lush turf. Yesterday, the dreaded caterpillars were noticed in the rough on 6 and 7 at Hyde Park. Once noted, we were able to get out and spray an insecticide in many areas of the golf course. Below are a couple pictures of the caterpillar and the damage they can cause. We will continue to monitor and make curative applications when necessary.
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| Fall Army Worm |
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| Damage from Fall Army Worm |
Thank-you for the comments and questions on the golf course. We can be reached at grounds@hydeparkcc.com
Thank-you,
Pat O'Brien
Grounds Superintendent
