September Update-

Where has the 2022 season gone?! Labor Day is right around the corner and our team is preparing for the last golf events, along with work that will set-up the golf course and grounds for success in 2023. 

 

Bunkers:

Recently, many questions have been focused on the inconsistency in the playability of the bunkers, specifically the increased firmness of the sand. Most of the bunkers were renovated in 2004-2005, over the 17 years with rain events the sand has become contaminated with silt, a dark material noted in the pictures below. 

Silt Contamination 

Gravel Contamination in Sand

The silt will change the drainage properties of the sand, reducing infiltration rates of excess water, clogging gravel channels below, increasing standing water in the bunkers and ultimately making the sand more difficult to hit from. Each rain event, the silt is removed, and new sand is added, unfortunately this is a short-term fix until the drainage and sand is replaced. 

 

Putting Greens:

 

The putting surfaces have held up okay this season, the last break in temperatures from Mother Nature was very helpful. The last couple weeks we have seen some thinning of specific types of bentgrass (Cohansey, Penncross, and others that date back to the 1920’s) the many types of bentgrass are noted in the picture by the different colors and textures.

Blotchy Appearance of Greens due to Many Types of Bentgrass

 These dated bent grasses are not heat tolerant, cannot be mowed at a low height and are susceptible to many pathogens such as Anthracnose, Summer Patch and Pythium Root Rot. From a playability standpoint, golfers will notice daily changes in smoothness due to stress on the turf (reduction in rolling and other inputs) and the many old varieties that are present on the greens exhibiting different growth rates. We have applied multiple curative fungicides to reduce the thinning turf from Anthracnose. Once the turf thins an Algae mat layer will form, outcompeting the remaining grass for water and nutrients. 

Close-up of Algae Forming where Bentgrass has Thinned.

Fescue Establishment: 

The new fescue on 15 hillside is growing in well; a green hue can be seen across this area. It won't be long until we are mowing this area at rough height. The high populations of unwanted grass types in this area offer an opportunity to try various herbicides/strategies (once established) to eliminate both Annual Bluegrass and Creeping Bentgrass. A drop area has been established in the rough near the green (if you choose) or the ball can be hit from the newly seeded area.

Greens Aeration:

September-19th Course Closed/ September-20th/21st Course Open with temporary greens

Thanks for the continued questions and feedback on the golf course and grounds at Hyde Park. Please forward any questions to grounds@hydeparkcc.com

Pat O'Brien

Grounds Superintendent

What is up with the rough?

The first sign that the seasons are changing is when the the Turfgrass Interns make their way back to school. This year marks our 19th season of having an internship program at HP, over 40 interns from 10 different countries been part of this diverse team, many of which have filled leadership roles within our department once they have completed their studies.

This year we were very fortunate to have two great people: Joe Faulks, and Austin Montgomery.  Joe will be finished in early October while Austin completed his internship requirements last week.

Intern Spotlight: Austin Montgomery

Hello, my name is Austin Montgomery and I am from Knoxville, Tennessee. I chose to come to Hyde Park after listening to a presentation from Pat in one of my classes at the University of Tennessee. Even though, I am fairly new to turf management, working in the field for a little over a year now, I know it is the career path that I want to follow. The people are amazing and the job requires a lot of hard work but always feels worth it in the end. I plan on graduating this coming spring with a degree in Turf Management. 

 

I have had a great time at Hyde Park and am very thankful for all that Pat and the rest of the team has taught me. This being only the second course I have worked on (and a much larger one at that) I arrived wide eyed and nervous, but now I am much more confident in all my abilities regarding turf. I have also had a great time working with people from different places and cultures. Whether, it was our great H2B workers from Mexico, Joe the other intern from England, or even seeing the differences between the people from here and the ones back home in Tennessee, they have all taught me a great deal.

 

I would like to thank everyone at Hyde Park for helping learn more about turf management and helping me have a great stay in the wonderful city of Cincinnati. I would also like to thank Pat, Arron and the leadership team for teaching me so much and also being flexible with my Marine Corps reserves schedule. I hope I am able to cross paths with all of you in the future!

 

Thank-you, 

Austin Montgomery,

Turgrass Intern 2022

Primary Rough:

The work on the course continues with most of the questions  centered around the inconsistent grass types in the rough. Last update I glazed upon the topic discussing that undesirable grasses such as  Poa Annua, Creeping Bentgrass along with poor drainage were causing the inconsistency.  Both of these undesirable grasses offer poor heat tolerance, disease resistance, requiring increased inputs of fertilizer, fungicides and water. Playability is poor at best with less than desirable ball lies.  

To highlight the high populations of Creeping Bentgrass and Poa Annua in the rough we applied a selective herbicide in the rough infront of #15. This  herbicide when applied will turn the undesirable grasses white and not impact the Tall Fescue. As you can see from the pictures below, this hillside is over 80 percent undesirable Creeping bentgrass/ Poa Annua. This area will be seeded this week with Tall fescue and we will see germination in 5 days or less.

#15-Prior to herbicide application 

#15-Bentgrass decline following herbicide application 

Green Surrounds:

On the 9th hole, the undesirable creeping bentgrass has been outlined with orange paint to highlight the large populations and the poor playability with the ball sitting deep in the "fluffy" creeping bentgrass.

Poor ball lie within bentgrass

#9-Orange lines denote Bentgrass Contamination 

Bentgrass on surrounds becomes fluffy and scalps when mowed

All of the green surrounds across the golf course are contaminated from the movement of the bentgrass  from the greens to the green and bunker surrounds. To remedy this challenge in these areas, a long term strategy will need to employed utilizing herbicides and resodding the surrounds to Tall Fescue.

14th Green:

Unfortunately, the 14th green is slow to heal from the recent vandalism, we have increased fertilizer rates, reduced plant growth regulator use and utilized small coring tines to assist with regrowth. Our team will begin to integrate plugs of bentgrass in the larger damaged areas this week. I would like to thank the HP security team Les and Andrew with working with District 2 CPD and their continued investigation and follow-up. Also, the surrounding neighborhood has been very helpful with a watchful eye in the area. I am confident in a couple weeks the scars on the turf will be healed.

As always thanks for the feedback and questions on the course.

Thanks,

Pat O'Brien

Grounds Superintendent

 

August Agronomy Update

 

August is one of the busiest months for turf mangers in the Ohio Valley, the cool season grasses are in survival mode from the typical hot and humid Cincinnati summers and we also start to look to next season, focusing on agronomic practices that will help the turf and playability.

 

Irrigation:

From Mid-June to the end of July were extremely dry at HP with just under 2” of rainfall. During this period the irrigation system applied about 9 million gallons of water with about 62 percent, or 130,000 gallons/acre of the water usage being directed to the rough while the drought tolerant Zoysia grass in the fairways received less than 15% of total water usage or 50,000 gallons/ acre.

Rough:

Last week our team began to inter-seed the thin areas in the rough with turf-type tall fescue and we have already seen germination in many spots. The majority of the weak turf is an unwanted grass called Annual Bluegrass and Creeping Bentgrass and is located in low-lying areas where water will sit for long periods of time along with many other areas. Additional drainage and turf type fescue seeding will help with playability and fewer inputs of fertilizer and fungicides. 

Thin Annual Bluegrass in the rough

Germination of Tall Fescue in Slits 

Zoysia:

In late July, we received a load of Zoysia sod from Indiana to replenish the on-site nursery and begin raising low areas in the fairways where water collects and damages the turf in the winter. The majority of the sod has rooted in well and is safe to play from, new areas of sod are delineated with a green stake.

Zoysia Sod on 12 

Zoysia sod nursery behind # 4 green

 

Over the next few weeks, the Grounds team is focused on the following initiatives:

 

-Continued storm damage clean-up on the peripheries 

-Mowing and herbicide applications in the High rough

-Tee aeration 

-Spot seeding and fertilization of the rough 

-Small drainage projects around the course

-Intern recruitment

Thanks for your questions and feedback on the course and grounds at HP.

Pat O'Brien

Grounds Superintendent