Spring Operations Around the Grounds

 

Turfgrass Challenges:

The winter and early spring seasons are a great time to evaluate the turfgrass across the property with many plants displaying distinct characteristics.  The putting greens are exhibiting the many types of creeping bentgrasses present. All of these different grasses perform different and exhibit different challenges from increase susceptibility to plant diseases to poor heat tolerance, both of which require increased labor, chemicals and poor playability. The yellow turf in the rough are the high populations of Annual Bluegrass which requires significantly more water and chemicals to survive the summer months. Unfortunately, the roughs at Hyde Park have populations higher than 50 percent of Annual Bluegrass. The ideal turf in the rough is Turf Type Fescue.  

Left: Annual Bluegrass Rough/ Right: Multiple types of bentgrass 

Bryan Miller, Site Preparation for the Princeton Elm 

Princeton Elm Preparation-:

The ailing Pin Oak was removed from the pavilion area, oddly enough when removing the stump we found out this location had a second stump in the same area. The new Princeton Elm that will be planted in early April will be the 3rd tree is this location. Bryan Miller, has been working hard at the site preparation with the install of 20 yards of new soil along with updated irrigation and future lighting. He will work closely with the nursery to make sure this tree is installed correctly, this will be a challenging task as the rootball of the new Elm will be 4000lbs! 

Jared Marshall, Turfgras Intern 

Grounds Team:

We are excited that are friends from Mexico will be joining our team for another season, we have been fortunate to navigate the many challenges of the H2-B guest worker visa program. Many of these folks have been part of our seasonal workforce for 7 years! Also, we are excited to have two turfgrass interns this season. Jared Marshall joins us from The University of Tennesse and Ross Greenwood will arrive in April from Wales. Our intern program has allowed us to develop our team within and has produced many leaders in the industry. 

Silt Contamination Noted in Dark Areas

Bunkers:

The 18-year old bunkers continue to be a challenge with contaminated sand and inconsistencies in playability. Over the winter, the grounds team added 400 tons of new sand to try to improve the playability. Albeit a short term work around until a long term solution is adopted. The bunkers will continue to play differently with the amount of silt contaminated sand and failing drainage.

Late August Ideal Timing to Plant New Seed 

New Rough Seeding Trials:

Last season we engaged in a couple trials to see the differences between late august seedings on the 15th hole (ideal) vs late October seedings (not so ideal) when the golf season is winding down, The goal was to see if we would be able to accomplish a late seeding and have it ready for play in the spring. The results: 15 looks great with an excellent stand of Turf Type Fescue and is very playable. On the flip-side the right side of the second hole will require more time to grow-in with limiting cart traffic. In order to produce a consistent playable rough with reducing inputs of water, chemicals and labor the Annual Bluegrass needs to be removed and Turf Type fescue needs to be planted during the ideal seeding dates of late August.

Late October- Not Ideal Timing to Plant New Seed

Thanks again for the feedback and questions on the course, we look forward to seeing you out on the course. If you have any questions please email us at grounds@hydeparkcc.com

Thank-you,

Pat O'Brien 

Grounds Superintendent