Post Aeration/Zoysia grass

Last Monday and Tuesday the Grounds team was able to complete the aeration of the greens around a few rain drops. We adapted our practices slightly based upon data (over the past several years) of the soils and also the short and longer term forecasts. We also incorporated the practice of vertical mowing to decrease the lateral growth of these older bent grasses. The recommendation of vertical mowing was a result of a recent USGA agronomist visit in March. With a little help with warmer temperatures we hope you will see a significant improvement in playability by the weekend. 

Day 1-Post Aeration 

Day 5-Post Aeration 

Zoysia Grass:

The Zoysia grass green-up has been delayed this year with the roller coaster-ride of temperatures; however over the weekend there was significant progress, we anticipate with the warm-up this week and when the soils dry out, the carts will be scattering to the fairways very soon. The caveat to this is; there will be areas that will be roped off or we will be utilizing the geo fences on the GPS carts to reduce cart traffic in weak areas. There are a few areas that have been impacted by winter injury (i.e. poor drainage/ shaded) and will need to be resodded or plugged out with new Zoysia. 

#5 Tree Removal and new sod will improve playability

13 Approach- water sitting in front of the green over winter

13 approach 

Areas of thin Zoysia grass we will focus on turf improvements include:

• The end of 4 fairway  
• Right side of 5 fairway 
• 13 approach 
• Right side of 18 fairway 

Practice Area:

We will continue to shift the practice tee line at the range between the bentgrass area and the synthetic turf line. Once the Zoysia tee is actively growing it will be placed there more consistently. 

USGA Agronomist Visit:

On March 15th,  Zach Nicoludis from the USGA Green Section made a visit to Hyde Park, it was a great opportunity to tour the property and talk agronomy with a person that literally sees hundreds of golf courses each year. On the tour, we discussed the successes of the agronomic program and the challenges that are evident in the future. He had many observations and a few recommendations to further improve our program and the overall quality of the golf course.

The emphasis of the visit focused on:

• Agronomic Programming (i.e. organic matter management)
• Infrastructure Challenges (i.e. greens, bunkers)
• Tree Management Program
• Data interpretation 

Firmness testing

Zach Nicoludis, USGA Agronomist

Shade Study 10th green

Cultural Practices Paying Off

Thanks again for the feedback and questions on the course and grounds at HP. Please do not hesitate to reach out if you have any questions? grounds@hydeparkcc.com

Thanks-you

Pat O'Brien,

Grounds Superintendent