The Winter Months on the Grounds at HP

 

A Last Look at Summer 

The staff and I continue to move forward with preparations for next year, the fall is a great time to focus on practices that will enhance the turf quality for next season. The cooler temperatures and the shorter days have transitioned the Zoysia Grass fairways to a golden brown. Zoysia Grass when dormant, exhibits poor recuperative capacity from cart traffic because of its slow, almost non-existent growth exhibited in the winter months. Carts are restricted to the path until the Zoysia grass is actively growing again in the Spring.

Frost and Frozen Soil Delays:

With below freezing temperatures the ground will continue to freeze rapidly and thaw slowly. The concentrated foot traffic pattern on the putting surfaces can cause damage to the root system due to the potential shearing of roots from foot traffic while thawing, thus the use of temporary greens on 6 and 7 has been utilized with the impact of shade from the trees in this area. Delays due to thawing soil and frost are more consistent as we get into the winter months, we will continue to update the membership via email when delays occur. The photo below is an example of the amount of traffic that is left from a single foursome.

Key initiatives for our team this fall/winter include:

Realigning tees:

After years of topdressing and encroachment of Bentgrass in the rough select tees are in need of realignment and leveling.  

Before

Resodding of edges to fescue

Sand Additions In Bunkers is becoming an increasingly common practice each year with the silt contamination from the bottom and the edges of the bunkers changing the physical properties and playability of the sand. Our team in the coming winter months will add another 150-300 tons of sand this winter to the bunkers.

Checking of Sand Depths

Continued dredging of the ditches behind the 3rd green and along 6 fairway to improve drainage flow and aesthetics of these hazards.

Silt Removal from Ditch behind 3 green

Other Initiatives:

-Irrigation system winterization 

-Finishing of deeptine aeration on the putting surfaces 

-Topdressing and aeration of the tees 

-Leaf clean-up 

-Repositioning the fan on 14 green to left side of green to enhance the view to 15th green

-Tree management program

-Preventative maintenance on all of the equipment 

-Masterplan development 

-Staff training and recruitment 

As always, thank-you for the comments and feedback on the grounds at Hyde Park. Happy Holidays from the entire Grounds Team.

Thank-you,

Pat O'Brien

Grounds Superintendent